Postal store manager says she's intercepted large shipments of cash as Buffalo Township police warn of scams

A Pittsburgh-area police department is warning about scammers after investigating several cases where residents have fallen victim.

The Buffalo Township Police Department told KDKA-TV that over the last several months, multiple elderly residents have lost nearly $100,000 to a scheme that is more sophisticated than investigators have ever seen before.

Police warn of sophisticated scheme 

Chief Timothy Derringer said scammers are contacting the victims, allegedly threatening them into sending a bulk amount of money in either cash or gift cards in packages at local postal offices. 

"The scammers are able to hack into their phone, take control of their bank accounts," Derringer said. "So it does look legit."  

Derringer said scammers are using different methods to target the victims, like pretending to be their bank or using scare tactics like saying their loved one is in jail, or using personal information about the victim to steal their money.

"A lot of times they don't believe the police, they don't believe the family members, they're so coerced into what the scammer is telling them to do," Derringer said. "They forget. It's no fault of their own, but they forget. They think it's a legit problem and they go and take multiple transactions of cash in order to fulfill that obligation, whatever the scammer is telling them to do. Once you send that money, you may as well throw it away because you're not going to get it back."

Derringer said in several cases, scammers have asked residents to send bulk amounts of cash through South Pike Postal on Mulone Drive in Buffalo Township. He said a scammer attempted to victimize the same woman twice.

"It was an elderly female," Derringer said. "She wanted to ship another $30,000 in order to win 15 million." 

Store manager spots red flags

Luckily, he said the store manager at South Pike Postal has been able to stop the victims from sending money, based on the red flags she sees when they walk into the store.

"I had one lady, she's like, 'Oh, I'm shipping out a coffee pot,'" Monica Placek, the store manager at South Pike Postal, said. "It's $1 general coffee pot. To overnight it, it was over $500. I'm like, 'something's not right.' So I'm allowed to open it because it's my package now, so I open it up and I catch about 16 grand and a debit card in the coffee pot."

Placek told KDKA-TV that the scammers had hacked the victim's phone and were intercepting phone calls to the victim when police tried to intervene.

In another case, Placek said a woman was trying to mail $60,000 in cash.

"I was like, 'I'm gonna open the box just to make sure it's packed properly. I'm allowed to.' She's like, 'No, don't, don't.' I'm like, OK. And I'm like, 'What are you shipping out?' She's like, 'There's $60,000 in there,'" Placek said.

Another man showed up to ship books to California, Placek said, and was willing to pay a hefty fee to overnight the package.

"I opened it up and there was $27,000 in cash," Placek said. "It's just red flags. Like, you know, don't get me wrong, we ship out overnight. We ship out standard ground, everything. But the red flags to me is why are we shipping books overnight? Like, why are we spending $300 to ship something that isn't even worth that much?"

Police invite residents to public discussion

"If I can get anything out there, it's please check with somebody prior to shipping anything anywhere," Derringer said. "Contact 911 in your community, check with a family member, check with a friend, check with anybody before you ship any type of currency or money."

Because of the recent uptick in scams, Buffalo Township Police are inviting the public to attend a public discussion on Saturday at Zion Methodist Church.

Officers, along with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, will be there to discuss scams, how to recognize scams, how to protect your information and how to avoid becoming a victim. Other topics during the discussion will include drug awareness and resources for the community. The event starts at 10 a.m. at 438 Bear Creek Road in Sarver.