A man who reportedly sent a $200 Amazon gift card to someone he said he didn’t know but who had threatened to harm him if he didn’t pay up for “sexual favors,” along with reported scams of $5,000 and $146,000 are among the cases that recently came under investigation by the Troy Police Department.
According to Troy police, the sex-related case was reported Jan. 11, when a man said he received multiple text messages from an unknown person claiming he owed money for sexual favors — and would hurt him if he didn’t pay. In response, the man said he sent a $200 Amazon gift card before contacting police.
A gift-related scam was also reported on Jan. 11, by a woman who told police she received a message from someone she didn’t know claiming to be the owner of a company who lived out of state. She was asked to buy gift cards for employees as a surprise for them, so she purchased 34 gift cards totaling $5,000 at an Apple store, police said. She later realized she’d been scammed.
Another Troy resident reported being conned out of $146,057, police said, throughout 2023 and into early 2024. In that case, the woman, age 50, told police she was contacted on a messaging app by someone she didn’t know who convinced her to invest in an unknown business being promoted. The woman set up a digital wallet and made six deposits totaling $75,057.35 which was subsequently withdrawn by the suspect, police said. She also wire-transferred $71,000 to the scammer before realizing what was going on and then contacted authorities on Jan. 4, police said.
“This incident is another reminder to not deposit or transfer money to anybody you don’t know. What may seem like a business investment is actually a swindle,” said Troy Police Sgt. Ben Hancock. “Please be cautious when any personal information is being requested, it should strike you as suspicious.”
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