MESA COUNTY, Colo - Mesa County Sheriff’s deputies have been made aware of an elaborate credit card scam that promises extra cash or promises future business to local hotels.
So far deputies have seen two versions of the multi-state scam. The first involves the scammer making a fake reservation at a local hotel or bed and breakfast. The scammer then “mistakenly” sends a package to the hotel early and asks the hotel to forward the package to an address. Deputies discovered the items in the package were purchased with a credit card stolen from a different state. The scammer sends the package to a third party (a hotel) to forward on to another location to hide where they live. The hotel loses out on the reservation and unknowingly helped facilitate a crime.
In the second version of the scam, the package full of items purchased by an out-of-state stolen credit card is sent to someone who has signed up to earn extra cash. The scammer sends the package to the “helper” and then sends a packing slip for the package to be forwarded on. In the recent report deputies took, the “helper” was paid $30 for the first package to make them think this was a real job, but then never paid again.
In both versions of the scam, the packages contain items purchased by stolen credit cards from another state. The people who forward the packages on are actually unknowingly helping to facilitate a crime.
Red Flags
The scammer has a thick foreign accent and may call from a (970) phone number or a 877 number.
You receive a package and are asked to forward it on to a different address.
If it is too good to be true....IT IS!
What to do
If you receive a package in a similar manner, the best thing to do is return to sender and report the incident to local police.
What to do
If you receive a package in a similar manner, the best thing to do is return to sender and report the incident to local police.
