Linden Hills Resident Loses $1,100 in Jamaican Swindle

A 77-year-old Linden Hills resident was swindled out of $1,100 by a Jamaican who claimed he had won a large amount of money.

The Jamaican called the resident of the 3600 block of Drew Avenue multiple times, telling her he would give her a sizeable sum of money if she gave him $1,500 to ease the transaction costs.

The Linden Hills resident replied that her credit card bills were too high for her to afford the $1,500 outlay.

But the Jamaican scam artist asked the woman for the last four digits of her credit card number and, when she complied, make it seem as if he had paid off her $9,800 Bank of America credit card bill.

The Linden Hills resident then bought three reloadable prepaid “Money Pack” cards at Walgreens and CVS worth $1,100 and shared the cards’ numbers with the Jamaican.

The Jamaican told the Linden Hills resident that when she received her big payoff, she was should send $2,500 to Port Richey, Florida, to cover taxes and that he would soon be sending her an additional $1,500 to purchase three more prepaid cards.

The Linden Hills resident’s adult daughter then called Bank of America representatives, who informed her that it was a scam and that they would investigate the Jamaican’s deposit into her account.

On April 5, the victim’s daughter filed a police report.