A man is jailed in Henderson after police investigated reports of a person collecting debit cards as part of a suspected spoofing scam.
Spoofing, police clarified in a news release on Tuesday, is when a scammer falsifies caller ID information so it appears you're getting a call from a person or business you already know or trust.
In this case, police say 32-year-old Emmanuel Almonor spoofed the number of multiple victims' financial institutions in phone calls where he claimed their bank card had been compromised.
Police say Almonor would then tell the victims a bank employee would come to their house to take their debit card so it could be destroyed.
"The victim provides their debit card for destruction, however, instead the suspect immediately incurs thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges and money transfers," police stated.
Victims may have been further convinced of the calls' legitimacy because the suspect was able to provide personal information like their account numbers and PIN, police noted.
The crimes were reported on May 22 and May 23, police said. It's not clear from the press release exactly how much money the victims were taken for, but based on the charges, the damage was likely between $5,000 and $25,000.
Almonor was booked into the Henderson Detention Center on the following charges:
- 1 count of obtain/use another personal ID, causing financial loss $3,000+
- 1 count of theft, $5,000 but less than $25,000
- 2 counts of obtain money/property/labor falsely, $5,000 but less than $25,000
Henderson police add that their investigation into this case is ongoing. They advised anyone who may have fallen victim to this scam to call them at 702-267-4911, dial 311, or leave an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or visiting crimestoppersofnv.com.
