Indiana State Police at Evansville are currently investigating two separate incidents where individuals have handed over money to an unknown male claiming to be a landlord who is about to evict his tenants. Indiana State Police Detectives believe this male will continue to scam others if given the opportunity.
On April 15th, an Evansville Pastor received a phone call from a person alleging to be indigent and explained that he would be evicted from his residence on Telephone Road in Warrick County unless he could pay his landlord $95.00 to partially cover the rent he owed. He further explained that his wife was currently being treated for health issues at Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Newburgh. The pastor agreed to meet the landlord at the hospital. Sometime between 3:00 – 3:40 p.m., the pastor drove to the hospital and met the alleged landlord and insisted on speaking to the tenants before he would turn over the check. The man led the pastor into the hospital and into an empty patient room. The pastor was told that the couple must be in the lab for tests. They both walked to the lab, but failed to find the tenants. The pastor eventually handed over the check for $95. After the landlord left, the pastor checked with the front information desk and discovered that the woman was not even a patient at the hospital. He was able to stop payment on the check.
In February, an unknown male contacted a representative of St. Vincent DePaul Society in Evansville. The male caller claimed a couple was being evicted from their home because they couldn’t pay their rent. The caller further claimed that the landlord had agreed to drop eviction proceedings if they could come up with $120 for the rent they owed. The representative from St. Vincent DePaul Society later met the alleged landlord at Schnucks’ parking lot on the west side of Evansville and handed him a check for $120. The representative became suspicious later when all the phone numbers he had been given for the tenants and landlord were either disconnected or not correct. He also discovered the address given to him as the residence where the tenants were being evicted from was a vacant lot.
Suspect Information: It is not known at this time if the male portraying himself as the landlord is acting alone or if he has others that are assisting. Detectives say the suspect is a white male and approximately 40-years-old. No other description is available at this time.
Indiana State Police Detectives would like to warn everyone that scams occur almost every day and it’s important to do some research before turning over cash to a stranger. Detectives also believe there are possibly additional victims that have not contacted police. Anyone with information concerning these incidents is encouraged to contact Indiana State Police at 812-867-2079 or 1-800-852-3970.
This guy should make the leap toward scamming the Mayor’s office. He’d definitely have more luck that way. Perhaps he could claim to have some sort of perpetual motion machine that would produce free energy whist reading its own meters would do the trick.
Have I mentioned lately how much of an ass our Mayor is?
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