East Bay identify theft scheme included purchase of dental equipment sterilizer

NEWARK A conversation with a woman thought to be a neighbor about a misdelivered package turned into a nightmare fraud scenario for one Newark resident when he gave out his phone number Police stated he realized his mistake soon enough to help stop the woman accused of fraud from further victimizing him Related Articles Oakland pulls plug on California Waste Solutions land deal at former Army base BART rider charged with hate crime in knife brandishing East Bay author of Please Break the Law convicted of murdering brother My heart is broken East Bay man heard from victim s family at -year homicide sentencing Victim in fatal East Bay shooting is identified Alameda County District Attorney prosecutors have charged that -year-old Hayward woman with felony identity theft and felony receiving of stolen property according to court records Police arrested her May but did not make a comment until after leadership made the formal charges In a declaration Newark police disclosed it all stemmed from a March interaction that started when the woman approached the man asking about a misdelivered package Police noted the use of misdelivered packages is an emerging tactic in mail and identify thefts and encouraged people to be cautious of people who approach to discuss that subject In this occurrence police disclosed the resident thought the woman was a neighbor shared a phone number and agreed to return the package if it arrived Police revealed that led to fraudulent purchases on the resident s credit card including one for a dental autoclave a machine that sterilizes dental equipment The next day a package did arrive but with a different name on the envelope Shortly after that the resident received a call from the woman to arrange a pickup police explained Once the call for a pickup had been arranged the man called police and explained them he suspected fraud Police disclosed officers responded and took possession of the package which they later endorsed to have been purchased with the resident s stolen credit card information Police disclosed the man already had discovered the unauthorized purchases including the one for the autoclave Police declared that purchase had been made by the woman through a dental supply company and that she contacted the company and had requested a change of shipping address to her home The call to the company came from a phone at a piercing studio in Hayward police declared They added that they issued a search warrant at the studio and located the fraudulently obtained autoclave Investigators also intercepted other orders Police stated the woman explained them she purchased the equipment online at a discounted price In their report police also urged residents to monitor their bank and credit card report regularly for unauthorized transactions and to secure mail and packages by collecting them as soon as practicable after they re delivered