‘Dark web’ scammer demands victim buy hundreds of dollars in gift cards
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 Sept. 16-30.
LARCENY BY FALSE PRETENSES
On Sept. 22, an officer received a call from a grocery store employee who requested a visit to the Hopewell Drive location to meet with a customer who had been swindled. The complainant told police that she had been contacted by an individual claiming to be with a wallet app security. She had been advised that her information was “all over the dark web,” and there were reports of pornography on her phone. The caller instructed her to purchase gift cards from several locations and provide the activation codes. Throughout the day, cards were purchased at big-box retail stores in Mount Pleasant and the grocery store on Hopewell Drive: two worth $500 each, another valued at $390, and a final one for $200. The phone number used by the suspect was untraceable, according to Charleston police. The officer advised the victim to save all receipts and the original gift cards to aid in the investigation.
MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS
An officer responded to a residence on Farr Street on Sept. 24 in reference to a stolen golf cart. The complainant stated that he had seen his golf cart parked and plugged in at 9:15 a.m., but three hours later, he noticed it was missing. At the scene, the officer observed a blue bicycle lying in the parking spot where the golf cart had been. During the course of the incident, officers recovered the stolen golf cart as it was found abandoned on Pierce Street. A crime scene unit responded and processed both the from the vehicle. A leasing employee for the property stated that security cameras there did not have a direct view of where the vehicle was parked.
WEAPONS LAW VIOLATION
On Sept. 25, an officer was patrolling Clements Ferry Road and pulled into a nearby gas station. There, the officer observed bicycle and the golf cart. The next day, on Sept. 25, Team 5 was called to a parking garage on Farr Street, where a victim stated that her sedan had been vandalized, with the rear passenger window shattered and the steering column broken into, with visible damage to the ignition. The officer noted that there were tooling marks on the ignition consistent with an attempt to start the vehicle with a tool. There were no surveillance cameras at the location.
On Sept. 29, a resident of Robert Daniel Drive contacted police to report an attempted theft of her sedan. The rear passenger window had been broken, and the plastic molding around the ignition was removed from the dashboard. No items were stolen a strong odor of marijuana coming from a parked sedan occupied by four males. The vehicle abruptly left, traveling at a high rate of speed, and attempted to evade the officer, who followed. A traffic stop was initiated in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Verdant Way. The driver became agitated and denied possession of marijuana, which police said was in plain view. The report also indicated a passenger was in possession of a loaded firearm, which was removed from his waistband. The officer noted that the serial number had been sanded off the weapon. The suspect was arrested for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and transported to the Berkeley County Detention Center.