Both the Albany and Colonie police departments are investigating alleged scams incidents in which suspects claimed to be investigators for local banks, police said.
Colonie police responded to a call at a Loudonville home on Wednesday, April 17. The 91-year-old victim said she received a phone call on Monday, April 15, from a man claiming he was a representative from Bank of America, police said. The woman told the officers that the man said he was conducting an investigation into a teller at one of the local banks and requested she go to the bank at 477 Albany-Shaker Road and withdraw $5,800 from her account.
The woman told police she followed the instructions and was then directed to meet a second party at another location and give them the money. The woman said she was told she would be contacted regarding an arrest of the teller and get a new checkbook, but no one called her. Police said she then reported the incident.
Albany officers responded to a similar call at the Trustco Bank at 1084 Madison Ave. on Friday, April 19. The bank staff told the officers that an 81-year-old Albany resident had been sitting in the bank for over an hour and they decided to ask her if she was OK. the resident told the staff she was waiting to get her money back from a Trustco investigator as part of an ongoing investigation into one of the bank’s tellers, police said.
The woman told police that on Tuesday, April 16, she received a phone call from a man claiming to be an investigator at Trustco Bank, asking her to withdraw $6,400 from her account then meet him to hand over the money. She was told she would be called Friday morning to get the money back, but on that day the same person called asking her to help with another investigation and asked her to withdraw $4,800.
The suspects are described as a white male, 6 feet tall, slim build with dark hair and dressed all in black, and well as a white male, approximately 50 years old, standing 5’10”, and weighing 180 lbs.
Albany and Colonie police reminded the community about following safety tips in regard to scams. Banks do not enlist the help of customers to investigate larcenies or bad employees and unsolicited phone calls should be viewed with skepticism, police said. Anyone receiving phone calls of a suspicious nature should never provide any money or information without verifying the source of the request. Sources of verification would be the organization involved, (in this case the banks), relatives, police, family attorney, etc.
Anyone with information is asked contact Albany Police at 462-8039 or Colonie police at 783-2744.