Using prominent attorney’s name, unknown scammer targets businessman for more than $2k in cell phone top-up

Another attempt is being made to use the names of prominent citizens to run a phone-credit scam.
 
REAL News has learned that a Cedar Valley businessman was the target of this latest effort, which used the name of a local attorney to obtain top-up service for cell phones.
 
Using a 714 phone number, an unknown person telephoned the businessman at about 9:41 a.m. on December 6; and, employing the attorney’s name, he requested top-up totaling $1,500 for his staff.
 
The following day, December 7, the businessman received yet another call from the same number – this time asking for $600 in top-up.
 
Reportedly, several calls were made to the number by the businessman asking about payment, but the calls were not answered.  He later contacted the attorney on a different number, and was told that the lawyer had no knowledge of any request for top-up.
 
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was notified about the situation and investigations are ongoing.
 
In a similar incident several weeks ago, at least three businesses were targeted. Subsequently, the Police issued a warning to business operators to verify every transaction before issuing money or top-ups via the phone.