Palo Alto Worker Fleeced For Nearly $900

A female fraudster swindled a woman out of $898 over the phone Tuesday after convincing her she owed the money to a fictitious law firm.

The victim, who works in Palo Alto, got the call Tuesday and reported it to local police Wednesday, after she'd transferred the money to the unknown woman.

The caller claimed to be from the law firm "ACS" and told the woman she owed the money from a past debt. The suspect said that credit cards were welcome, even over the phone, but that if "you don't pay now, we'll send the police to your work," according to police.

Although the victim didn't use her plastic, she did arrange to wire the suspect $898 from her Bank of America account the same day. Police said the woman didn't recognize the law firm, but suspected the fictitious debt could be part of an older debt that she'd paid off — or thought she'd paid off — recently.

"She sent a letter to her bank releasing the funds to the suspect," Lt. Sandra Brown said.

After the transfer, the woman became suspicious and researched the scam online. She found a trail of similar scams around the country and immediately called her bank. But the transfer had already gone through, so she reported the fraud the next day.

Police do not know if the bank was able to refund her money, Brown said. She said her department's fraud and identify theft detectives have the case.

"We are investigating it," Brown said.

Anyone with additional information about this crime is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department at (650) 329-2413, or leave an anonymous tip at paloalto@tipnow.org.