Bloomfield Township resident falls victim to phone scam, out $21,000

Woman scammed out of $21K from phone call

The scams are becoming more elaborate as a Bloomfield Hills woman recently found out the hard way.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Bloomfield Township Police Department received a call from a resident claiming she was scammed out of $21,000.

Police said a man claiming to be a U.S. Border Patrol Agent called the victim and said that her identity was used to fraudulently open a bank account and was being used in criminal conduct. She was told to withdraw $21,000 and deposit it into a cryptocurrency ATM at a gas station in Troy, Mich. to fix the situation.

The caller then asked the victim what the nearest police station to her was and she told him it was Bloomfield Township Police. She also gave the caller her name and home address.

Minutes later, she got a call from a number listed on her caller ID as "Bloomfield Township Police."

The man on the phone told the victim that he was Chief Phillip Langmeyer and if she didn't follow through with the previous caller's instructions, she would be guilty of a crime. The victim withdrew $21,000 and deposited it into the ATM.

Bloomfield Township police want to remind the public that law enforcement agency's will never instruct anyone to pay or assist in an investigation by withdrawing funds and depositing them into an ATM. The public is also reminded to not to provide personal information over the phone to unknown callers.

Police said to call the agency's nonemergency number to verify the legitimacy of a call.

This case is currently under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Bloomfield Township Police Department at (248)433-7755.