Cops: Hampton Bays Woman Victimized By Phone Scam

Southampton Town police released the following incident reports for the week of Nov. 18.

Westhampton

• An East Quogue business owner claims someone has been siphoning off antifreeze from a large drum located on his business property, and called police on Nov. 12. According to police someone entered the property of Hampton Watercraft & Marine on Montauk Highway in Westhampton Beach between Nov. 7 and 11, and used a hose to draw the antifreeze out of the drum. The victim said the same thing happened at this location about two weeks ago. All told, about 90 gallons of antifreeze was stolen, costing the business anywhere between $475 and $675. There are no leads or suspects at this time; the victim plans on installing cameras around the property. Meanwhile, police have ordered increased patrols to the area.

Hampton Bays

• Two vehicles were broken into at two separate residences on Lovell Road on Nov. 13. In the first instance, the victim had parked her 2004 Chevrolet in the driveway and left the doors unlocked. At some point during the night, someone went inside the vehicle and took a pair of headphones, a wallet, a Visa debit card and about $2 in loose bills and coins. In the second case, the victim had parked her 2004 Ford Taurus in the driveway of her residence. At some point during that same night someone broke into the vehicle and stole a Tom Tom GPS, a Garmin GPS, a Kodak camera, and a Sirius satellite radio, all totaling $1,250 in value.

• Someone slammed their car into the front of the Hampton Beverage Company on Nov. 12 and then drove off without reporting the incident. Police received a call from the owner of the Montauk Highway business at around 9 p.m., claiming that whoever struck the front of the building broke the front window and made an indentation on the wall. The fire marshal was requested at the scene to inspect further damage.

• A Hampton Bays man claims he’s the victim of identity theft and an attempted larceny after he received a phone call from a scammer on Nov. 13. The victim reported that he received a call from a man the day before claiming that the victim had a malfunction on his computer and if he sent $400 via Western Union he’d receive a $900 rebate plus the $400 initially paid. The victim refused to wire the money, but did provide the caller with his bank account number and routing number. The next day the victim checked with his Chase bank and discovered a pending charge of $571 to Western Union. The victim called Western Union and stopped the charge before reporting the incident to police.

• A retired Hampton Bays woman was the victim of a phone scam and called police to report it on Nov. 11. According to police, the woman received a call on Nov. 5 from a man who told her she had just won $2 million, but she needed to purchase Green Dot MoneyPaks and forward the card numbers to them to pay for fees associated with the winnings. The victim complied on several occasions between Nov. 5 and Nov. 8, ultimately sending $4,720.35 worth of Green Dot MoneyPaks. She also sent $500 through the U.S. Mail to an address provided to police. Detectives were notified and the investigation is ongoing. The victim was advised not to answer any more unsolicited contacts for money and to check her credit report for any fraudulent charges.