Craigslist Olympics scam on Surrey woman tracked to Colorado
By Salim Jiwa
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Authorities in Colorado have charged a woman for allegedly ripping off a Surrey woman over Olympic housing she had advertised on Craigslist.
Marie Melissa Dawson, 52, of the Lakewood suburb of Denver, was charged with theft after the Surrey woman complained she was taken by a someone who she thought was a U.K. physician renting her home for $39,000.
Steve Davis, a spokesman for the Lakewood Police department, said in an interview Dawson was charged with felony theft. Document supplied by Davis show there may be as many as three other Canadian victims of the American woman.
“On 09/29/09 Edwina Nazareth called LPD from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada reference a scam she became involved in (as a victim). She advised that she placed an ad to rent her home on Craigslist and someone claiming to be Victor Abramovich who claims to own a private clinic in the UK
answered the ad,” said a charge sheet filed in Lakewood.
“He (Abramovich) and his wife were moving to Canada to set up another clinic and wanted to rent a home for two years before they purchased
one. “Victor” asked several questions about the home, wanted pictures and wanted to use his own furniture,” says the document which outlines the Surrey woman’s complaint.
“He sent her pictures of the people that would be renting her home and suggested that she remove the ad from Craigslist, which she did. R/P Nazareth advertised the home as a five bedroom executive house in Brookside (Surrey, BC) for $2,400 a month,” the police document said.
Nazareth then received a cheque for $39,800 which she deposited into her bank. The “doctor” then asked for a refund claiming he had overpaid.
“Thinking that she was really sending him back his own money, she wired money three times through MoneyGram to the name Melissa Dawson and then provided “Victor” the reference numbers. After sending the last wire, she was notified by her bank that the check from “Victor” was no good. R/P Nazareth has done some investigating and found that two of the wires were
picked up in Lakewood and one in Denver.”
Police said she lost almost $9,000 as a result of the fake rental agreement.
Police in Lakewood tracked the woman who had cashed the wire transfers. Police also obtained video evidence of the woman who cashed the moneygrams.
“The information shows that someone using the name Melissa Dawson and Co DL #95-129-1414 picked up all nine of the transactions at Wal-Marts located at 7455 W Colfax (Lakewood), 440 Wadsworth Blvd (Lakewood) and 7800 Smith Rd (Denver),” said the Lakewood police report.
The same police document suggests that out of some nine money transfers the accused woman picked up, there were three additional Canadian victims.
Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Roger Morrow said Lakewood police are investigating the Craigslist scam further.
“As the US police investigation progressed it became apparent the suspect was involved in not only the collection of wire transfers but also the production of printed lottery winning notifications, counterfeit personal and cashiers cheques. Indeed as part of an overall seizure three computers, a printer and several boxes of cheque stock are in the hands of the US police,” said Morrow.
“The suspect appears to have had extensive information of some of the victims including such things as social security numbers. From documentation seized, it appears that there may be an additional three victims from Canada,” he added.
Morrow suggests that people planning to rent homes for the Olympics should make sure that if they receive money it is wired as cash and not in the form of cheques or other instruments.
Lakewood police spokesman Steve Davis said he could not explain why the RCMP have not involved the FBI since the fraud was an international transaction.
Copyright 2009, Vancouverite News Service. Use this article on your blog or website for just $5. News organizations pay $25. To reproduce or distribute, click: http://vancouverite.icopyright.com
Related articles:
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
