MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio
Fraud: Brinbourne Avenue
An officer met with a resident Nov. 28 at the station. The victim said in spring he met a person on a dating website. He believed he was talking with an Asian woman who was named “Jennifer” due to her photo. The suspect’s online username, however, reflected a bit of a different name. He said the two communicated only by text since she did not speak English. The woman eventually convinced the victim to transfer more than $75,000 from his bank account to a cryptocurrency website, promising him large returns on his money if he let her invest it. She then transferred the money to another Internet site where she said it grew to $3.2 million. She advised him he would have to pay a 25-percent tax on the money to get it out. He grew suspicious. Family members told him he was scammed. That is when he went to police. The police report said the victim had a hard time believing the suspect was not a real person and that it was a scam from the start. He was told it would be difficult to get his money back or prosecute the suspect responsible due to her living in another country. He was told to file a report with his bank.
Theft: Bagley Road
An officer at 7:31 Nov. 29 went to Aldi’s and spoke to the manager about a theft. An unknown person went to the cash register and said a man just left the store with a cart full of items through the front entrance. The manager viewed the security video and saw a man with a gray beard enter the…
