Pennsylvania State Police have charged members of a Brooklyn criminal ring with scamming over $150,000 from at least 14 victims across the five Philadelphia-area counties.
Police have filed charges against Derek Sukhu, 36; Thomas Gaines, 38; Jakia Williamson, 37; Trevaughn M. Bostic, 33; and Devin Adkins, 24, all from New York.
Victims lived in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Berks counties.
According to affidavit of probable cause filed by Trooper William Corverse:
In December, troopers became aware of numerous cases of fraud involving elderly customers of Citadel, and later Trumark, credit unions.
Key aspects of the crime began when someone claiming to represent the fraud department from the credit union would call victims and tell them their credit or debit cards had been compromised.
The impersonator would advise the victim to cut up the cards but not damage the metal chip, as it would be analyzed to track the fraud.
The impersonator would then arrange for an Uber driver to come to the victim’s residence to take the cards for the credit union to analyze. That driver would actually deliver them to a suspect in a business parking lot who would then use them to fraudulently make purchases.
In many cases, the impersonator knew personal information about the victims, investigators said.
Troopers were made aware of the first incident Dec. 20, and the last incident occurred Feb. 4.
According to the affidavit, Citadel, which is headquartered in Uwchlan Township, Chester County, reported a total loss of $120,539, and Trumark, located in Upper Dublin, Montgomery County, reported $33,892 in loss and the attempted theft of $31,220.
The first reported incident involved a victim in the 400 block of Brinton Lake Road in Thornbury Township, Delaware County.
The victim told troopers she received a text message claiming to be from Citadel and then a phone call telling her there was fraud on her account.
The impersonator on the phone used the name Elizabeth and the victim said it sounded as if other calls were taking place in the background.
Elizabeth then had the victim cut her debit and credit card and put them in a sealed container while preserving the metal chip. The impersonator told the victim that “Daniel,” an Uber driver, would be by to retrieve the cards.
The victim gave Daniel the bag with the cards. The victim then called Citadel, which reported it as a scam and she was able to cancel the cards before any money was stolen.
Troopers were able to speak with Daniel, who said he took the cards to a male he met outside a Starbucks at King of Prussia Town Center.
Using video, troopers were later able to see Daniel hand the bag to a Black male wearing a green and brown jacket. He was later identified as Gaines.
A search warrant of the person who ordered the Uber came back to Sukhu.
Two days after the first scam, troopers received a second report involving a Citadel account and using the same phone number as the first victim.
The caller also impersonated Citadel’s fraud department, asking if the victim had used their card for a $1,900 purchase at a CVS in Atlanta. The impersonator then told the victim they needed to cut the card in half with the chip still intact and put it in an envelope and then a Ziplock bag.
The impersonator again arranged for an Uber driver to come to the retirement community to pick up the card.
The victim turned the card over, and soon after received authentic texts from the Citadel Credit Control about nearly $8,000 in purchases from Apple and Best Buy stores in Philadelphia. An additional $3,500 from 7-Eleven, Dollar Tree and Apple stores had been denied.
Around the same time, troopers learned of other frauds, including a 74-year-old Fleetwood, Berks County, woman who had fallen victim. In that case $12,833 was charged to her cards at an Apple store, a CVS and a Domino’s, all in Willow Grove. That victim had not reported the crime.
A 73-year-old West Bradford Township, Chester County, man turned over four credit cards to an Uber driver, and later learned $18,506 was spent at Apple stores in Lawrence, N.J., and Willow Grove.
One of the victims’ cards was used at a Best Buy in Lancaster.
That company supplied information showing the victim’s card was used to purchase a gift card, which was used to make a purchase at a Best Buy store in Brooklyn. The purchase total for the item was above the gift card limit and the purchaser, Sukhu, used his Visa card for the remaining balance.
Investigators were able to use that information to determine Sukhu’s vehicle, a 2016 Mercedes Benz. Investigators found that vehicle passed through multiple license plate traffic readers during the time frame of the one of the frauds.
On Jan. 19, a, 80-year-old West Bradford man, victim 7, gave his cut card to an Uber driver and soon after fraudulent purchases were made at the Apple store in Lower Merion. Surveillance video showed Bostic and Adkins make those fraudulent purchases.
Troopers also learned of additional victims in Upper Darby, Marple and Concord townships in Delaware County.
On Jan. 29, an 88-year-old resident of a Concord retirement community reported she had been defrauded.
At 2 p.m., that day she received a text that her Trumark Financial Credit Card was compromised and then she received a phone call from a woman claiming to work for the credit union. She told the victim to cut the card in half and at 4 p.m. an Uber driver took it. Before long, $13,220 in purchases were made from an Apple store in Marlton, N.J.
A Trumark manager for financial crimes and security services, told troopers they were aware of about 10 customers who were victims of the scam.
On Feb. 4 at 5:01 p.m., troopers responded to the final fraud.
A 72-year-old customer of Trumark told police she put her cut card into an envelope addressed to 600 King’s Highway, Cherry Hill and gave it to the Uber driver. However, at the last moment the victim became suspicious and contacted Trumark and was told it was a scam and to call 911.
Troopers arrived, and as they spoke, to the Uber driver, they saw the person ordering the ride to Kings Highway was Williamson. At 5:01 p.m. the Uber was canceled.
With review of surveillance video from stores and license plate readers, investigators were able to place suspects in the area where the Uber drivers had dropped off the cards and the location of fraudulent purchases in the timeframe of the frauds.
In addition, Uber investigators turned over information documenting Sukhu and Williamson ordering Uber couriers for victims, and their accounts used the same credit card information to pay the account.
Search warrants also link Sukhu’s and Williamson’s phones to the fraud.
Corverse said the co-conspirators operated as part of an organized criminal conspiracy to defraud elderly victims and their respective financial institutions through a multi-step process consisting of theft by deception, and access device fraud.
It was not specified whether any of the suspects were in custody.