Theft of gold coins by fraud with UPS driver
logger7
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UPS Theft
Detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Largo, Florida are investigating the following case.
In Clearwater Florida, on April 24, 2018 at 1154 hours, a victim reported that her (2) UPS packages containing (70) American Eagle Gold Coins, valued at $99,050, were never delivered. UPS showed that they delivered the (2) packages the same date. H owever, the driver was intentionally stopped at the entrance to the victim's mobile home park. The suspect told the UPS driver that "he had 2 packages for him to be delivered to a particular lot #". The UPS driver verified the victim's correct address on the suspected fake driver's license which was provided by the suspect. The suspect signed for the packages and left.
The suspect is a black male, in his 30's, tall and slender, calm demeanor,LSW- dark blue or black scrubs, gold necklace, white socks with black sandals. Possible tattoo on his arm and on right hand. There was a 2nd suspect, unk description, who remained inside of the vehicle.
Suspect vehicle - 2003-2005 Blue Dodge Neon, 4-door, unk tag. (The UPS driver remembers seeing the vehicle as he pulled in therefore the suspect appeared to be waiting for him).
Contact: Detective Jennifer Zinge (727) 580-3775
Case # SO18-122174
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Largo, Florida
or
Doug Davis
817-723-7231
Doug@numismaticcrimes.org
Comments
Wow... This thief had all sorts of inside information.... prepared a driver's license, knew of the delivery and packaging.... this stinks of foreknowledge. Cheers, RickO
Wow...They chose to ship $100,000 worth of coins via UPS.
Who orders 100gs worth of gold eagles for delivery in a trailer park??
that's why I never ship with ups, never had any problems with usps
My first thought too.
Sounds like an Insurance Scam
I am not saying this is what happened but could the driver possibly be in on it? All the information given to the detectives could have been made up to throw them off. It seems unlikely that someone would know someone from a trailer park ordered $100k worth of gold and have enough time to prepare a fake drivers license that looked real and know the exact date of delivery.
Florida again!
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
What a scam. All around.
all around collector of many fine things
what a pisser to hear that. hope they get what they deserve
Packages addressed to a woman picked up by a male. Something reeks here.
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Smells bad !!!
I wish I could say the same.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I would think that UPS would be on the hook on this case, no authorization to have someone else get the package. AGEs were a little pricey if I did the math right, $1414 per.
I've heard about reroutes going on with metal dealers,
the chain is broken, and it doesn't have to be a inside job,
think of how many people and companies now have access to data,
for instance, apmex/ebay/paypal/cc's/fedex/ups/etc all for one transaction
and of course all of them are squeaky clean when it comes to protecting privacy and customers, Sure!
She collects the insurance, her cohorts (the thieves) put them through the fence, and they all split the windfall.
Any insurance claim and a tough no nonsense private detective will be interviewing and hunting down information like a blood hound, doing extensive background checks on those involved.
Years ago I ordered a Krugerrand off eBay and received a bubble mailer with nothing inside.
That's my rip off story.
PayPal refunded me after a police report was filed.
Nothing new on this? I would think something this big, and with all the clues to an inside job, would be quickly closed.... Cheers, RickO
Mine was an empty box that was supposed to contain 3 gold 1oz maples. Idiot seller required signature confirmation so I had to drive to post office to pick up. As soon as they handed me the box I could feel that nothing was inside. Requested the postmaster to come over and watch me open package which he did, unfortunately they refused to get involved with communication to ebay (said it was a civil matter lol) but ultimately got my money back. Turns out this same guy sent empty boxes to multiple other buyers.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
that was my last ebay gold buying deal
I know a northeast dealer who ships many of his modern coins, especially gold and silver via ups and has never had a problem with them in 20 plus years. He probably has private insurance to cover possible problems.
I spoke to a 30 plus year DHL driver today who told me about all the problem they have had over the years with lost and stolen items including bullion. They have the same rules on prohibited items.
I have shipped and received well into the seven figures on coins over the years and don't know any dealer who ships coins ups, especially bullion dealers like Apmex, Provident, American Metals, etc..
The buyer apparently paid $1414 per AGE, that's a lot with current gold prices, you can be sure that insurance is baked into the costs.
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Lafayette Grading Set
That's irrational; there are people buying precious metals who live in campgrounds, many of our seniors are part of the RV living, you can be sure many of them are putting their savings into gold and silver. So it is not logical to slam someone who lives in a lower class place buying pms. However I have never used UPS for pms or heard of dealers using UPS for $100K gold shipments. That is the irrational thing.
Or collusion.
Good point and some people don't like paying high property taxes.
I know of a few of my customers who live in mobile homes and have so much cash , they could buy a 1/2 million in gold, and not even flinch.
In fact, ill add, One of them is close enough of a friend, I could call him if somebody came in with a load, and he would bring me 200k in cash if I asked with about a 30 min notice. now I might have to cut him in obviously on the deal, but he is that that liquid and lives in a MH park
There are people living in trailer parks that could buy you over 100x. Never judge a book by it's cover.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Doesn't mean it wasn't a stupid move. Money does not equal common sense sometimes you know.
Years ago, when I was growing up, there was an old guy that would go house to house to buy 'old gold'....that 'old gold' sitting in your jewelry box that you do not wear anymore... and other comments... he would buy it cheaply... I am not sure how many other towns he went to in addition to this one. He lived in a small, out of the way, little cabin. When he died, it was revealed he was a millionaire....not sure what he did in winter.. probably lived in Hawaii...
... Just joking... he never really did anything else, just buy the gold and then convert it. Cheers, RickO
This guy left $7 million in gold and lived in a very below average priced home in Carson City, NV. Walter Samaszko lived under the radar and just about nobody knew the guy. I went to high school with him for three years and do NOT remember him at all. Kind of like Obama's not being remembered by anyone at his college. It happens.
bob
PS: My graduating class was a whopping 100 kids.
Shoot, it could have been the lady's roomate (or ex) who happened to know she ordered it so it wasn't even a fake license. Intercept the packages and instant break up. Or, collusion. UPS doesn't officially ship bullion do they? I wonder whose insurance will be on the hook here? Likely the shipper as s/he didn't get the goods to the customer yet. Though maybe PayPal would side with the seller as there was a signed (even if illegal) delivery
Trailer parks in FL arent like the trailer parks in NJ. A LOT of millionaires live in such parks.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Please try not to make fun of my pending retirement “home” out in the middle of a field.
I seriously can’t fathom defense of this order delivery option with millionaire trailer park action as the reason for this being excusable. Sorry, but no.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/columbia-records/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/14/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-people-who-went-school-obama-nev/
ADG, my point is exactly as the fact checks says, he was under the radar. Of course someone somewhere would remember Mr. Samaszko (or Obama) but it's almost impossible to find that person. This chap was discussed at our HS reunion and not one person remembered him. Oh, sure he was there but just so under the radar that not one upper classman recounted ever seeing him. Not sports, not drama, not debate, not politics, not the gun club, etc.
bob