COLUMBIA COUNTY, GA (WJBF) – The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the suspects who authorities say allegedly scammed an Appling man out of $55,000.
According to authorities, the victim says he was searching on Google when his iPad locked up causing alerts to go off, and then, he states that a phone number appeared on the screen to call.
The victim continues by stating that he spoke with someone by the name of “Daniel Marshall,” who claimed to be with Apple IT, and “Daniel” told the victim that he was the victim of identify fraud after he unlocked the victim’s iPad.
The victim says that afterwards, “Daniel” put him on hold, and then, he spoke to “Peter Garcia,” who claimed to be with the FTC, saying that the victim was under investigation for drug trafficking and money laundering.
The victim continues by saying that “Peter” said he could still be held responsible even though he was told that he was an identify fraud victim, then, he was asked if he had cash in the house, he responded that he had $25,000, and then, he was told in order to prove that he had a bank account, he needed to withdraw an additional $30,000.
The victim states that after he was told they would come by his house to pick it up, no one came, and then, he received another call instructing him to put the $55,000 in a box, wrap it up, go to the side of the Dollar General building, leave the box in front of his vehicle, drive off, and someone will come and pick up the money.
The victim says that he received another call saying that they received the money, and then, he was told that he needed to go to a different bank to withdraw ANOTHER $30,000.
The victim tells authorities that the situation was a scam, hung up the phone, and called GBI scam hotline, who advised him to call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities say the victim told them that he dropped off the box with the $55,000 around 8:30 P.M. on Thursday, April 27th.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office posted these photos on their Facebook page of the alleged suspects who are wanted for questioning in reference to this incident.
If you have any information regarding the identity of either of these people, please call Investigator Donnie Jones at 706-541-1044 or the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch at 706-541-2800.
