Sandy Springs Woman Scammed by Man From Dating Site for $4,500

From Sandy Springs Police Capt. Steve Rose

On Sept. 18, cops met a woman at Regions Bank on Roswell Road. She said the following: She met a man online at “Christian Mingle” and has been speaking to him since June. They eventually moved their communications to Facebook and then to the Yahoo Messenger and then to the telephone. The man said his name is Jackson Hutchinson. There was never a face-to-face meeting.

The woman believed they fell in love and he wanted to marry her. During this time, he established himself as a traveling salesman and at one point, asked her to help with some suppliers from other countries.

He transferred $20,000 to her account. He instructed her to send, via Western Union, $4,500 to a separate person. She went to the Publix and obtained multiple money orders totaling $4,500 and placed the order. She then went to her bank to verify the funds and found that they were not available. She thought that was suspicious and went to the Western Union and cancelled the order. They gave her WU checks totaling the amount. She deposited those checks to her account. She has since called Jackson Hutchinson to inquire why the funds were not valid.

More Recent Fraud Crimes

• A man reported that he was notified that someone charged $5,500 on a jewelry store credit card, $,1500 on his Best Buy card, and rented a moving truck in Virginia on his credit card. The suspects applied for and received Visa cards in the victim’s name.

• A woman reported that her bank notified her that someone used her debit card number to withdraw $260 from her account from an ATM in Germany.

• A woman reported that two women came into the Citgo Station on Dunwoody Place on Sept. 18 at about 2 pm. They purchased store items and then paid with a counterfeit ten-dollar bill. The employees checked and found that the same women had been in the store before and had apparently successfully passed other counterfeit bills.