Business says hackers scammed $120K

The following incidents were taken from the City of Charleston Police Department’s crime reports within Team 5, which covers Daniel Island, Clements Ferry Road, and parts of Cainhoy, between June 15-30. 

 

Hit and Run Collisions

On June 15, a Team 5 officer responded to the command post in front of Credit One Stadium on Seven Farms Drive regarding a hit-and-run collision.

 

The victim stated that after a concert, she was attempting to exit a parking lot near I-526 when a pickup truck struck her vehicle on the left side of the front bumper.

 

After the collision occurred, the driver of the truck made a right turn onto Seven Farms Drive and traveled north toward Island Park Drive. Damages to the vehicle were noted. There were no injuries during the collision. 

 

A victim reported a hit and run on Clements Crest Lane at Ace Hardware on June 30. After legally parking his vehicle at the business, upon return he noticed damage to the front passenger side and rear view mirror. A white paint transfer was also noted. Police have requested access to video footage. 

 

Identity Theft

A resident of Island Park Drive reported that his identity was stolen and funds were withdrawn from his bank account.

 

While out of the country, the victim received a call referencing the purchase of a new boat. He responded that he had not made the purchase.

 

Around the same time, an unknown individual went into another branch in Annapolis, Maryland, and withdrew $11,580 from their bank account.

 

The incident was reported on June 17 and is under investigation. 

 

Flim Flam

A victim paid $10,500 to individuals claiming to be deputies with Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

 

On June 18, the complainant was told via telephone that he had a summons for a grand jury and needed to pay $3,500 in fines and tickets.

 

The caller instructed him to go to a kiosk Coinme machine and transfer the money in four different transactions.

 

The victim described the male voices as professional, using law enforcement lingo, and the background noise overheard during the conversation sounded like a police station.

 

The incident has been reported to the FBI. 

 

Wire Fraud

On June 17, a business on Clements Ferry Road reported a potential wire fraud case.

 

A manager stated that in March, one of her vendors had switched payment methods to ACH from written checks.

 

For the first few months, the weekly transactions seemed to have gone through smoothly, until the manager received notification from the vendor that no payments had been received.

 

After further investigation, it was discovered that the email traffic confirming the payments was coming from a slightly different email address.

 

A telephone conversation between the two companies confirmed that the messages were not sent by the vendor. The amount paid to the hacker totaled $119,350. 

 

Motor Vehicle Theft

On June 20, Team 5 responded to an apartment complex on River Landing Drive to meet with a complainant who advised that her Club Car golf cart, valued at $4,500, had been stolen.

 

The golf cart had been parked near the residence the previous day.

 

Two arrests by the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office were made and the cart was recovered. 

 

Burglary

On June 24, a complainant reported that a new apartment complex under construction was burglarized.

 

Standup tool chests that were locked inside of the building had been compromised and $6,000 worth of tools were stolen.

 

One of the windows in the apartment had been opened when the contractor arrived at the site.

 

A review of security footage was requested from a third party provider.