Scammed out of thousands of dollars, victim warns others of 'code inspectors'
MIAMI - A taco shop worker claims two men pretended to be code inspectors and took thousands of dollars out of her bank account.
The victim is sad, embarrassed and afraid to show her face or give her name. However, the 21-year-old who works at Tiagos Tacos wants attention on what she calls a fake inspection scheme reported to Miami-Dade County police.
"They gave me so much information," the victim said. "I thought they were people I knew. So, I thought I was helping them and I felt happy. But it wasn't like that. It was all fake."
During the dinner rush last Thursday evening, the victim claims two men called the restaurant. They claimed to be code inspectors who needed to see the restaurant's fire sprinklers right away, the victim said. One of them used a real inspector's name, according to the victim.
One man showed up, walked around for two minutes and pretended to take notes, the victim said.
Moments later, two men called back demanding $9,800 for violations that carried hourly penalties, according to the victim.
The callers wanted money wired through an app or paid in BitCoin, the victim said.
The worker agreed to send money because she wanted to help the bosses who gave her full-time work when no one else offered, she said. The victim paid $3,600, which the men took as a deposit, she claims. One day later, the men called back wanting more money.
The victim reported what happened to police and warns others to be wary of such fraud.
"Everyone is going to tell you that you didn't think, that you didn't think this through, that you could have done better," the victim said. "You could have called someone and yes, they're all right."
The case could go to MDPD's organized crime bureau for investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
