Authorities in Sonoma County say a man recently arrested in connection with a financial scam that cost an elderly couple over $25,000 is part of a larger scheme targeting older adults.<\/p>\n
On May 29, a sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of fraud involving an elderly couple who said they had been manipulated into handing over approximately $28,000.<\/p>\n
The victims said that they had been called repeatedly by unknown people claiming to be a U.S. Customs officer. The caller told them a family member had been detained, which was untrue, and demanded money for legal expenses.<\/p>\n
Deputies said the caller instructed the victims to make a series of wire transfers, withdraw cash, and transport it to couriers in locations throughout Sonoma County.<\/p>\n
Investigators with the sheriff’s office determined that the scheme was familiar to them – matching a growing fraud trend commonly referred to as a “courier scam” in which suspects impersonate government officials, attorneys, or law enforcement to pressure victims into making immediate cash payments.<\/p>\n
Deputies began watching the couple’s residence after the suspects told the victims that a courier would arrive at their home. Around 5:30 a.m. on May 30, the victim called the deputy and informed him that there was an unknown man knocking on their front door.<\/p>\n
The deputy arrived on the scene and spoke to the suspect, 40-year-old Marco Antonio Garcia-Hernandez of Los Banos, who told deputies he had been instructed through text messages and WhatsApp communications to travel to Sonoma County and collect a package from the victim’s home.<\/p>\n
Investigators believe Garcia-Hernandez was acting as a courier within a larger organized fraud operation targeting elderly victims.<\/p>\n
Garcia-Hernandez was arrested on charges of theft of an elder adult, obtaining money by false pretenses, and attempted grand theft, along with an out-of-county warrant. Deputies said he is being held without bail.<\/p>\n