Darien Identity Theft 2019

ID Theft Thwarted When Bank Employee Suspects Phony Driver’s License

Again, Cards Stolen from a Darien Y Locker, This One in the Women’s Locker Room

Store Employee’s Stolen Credit Cards Rack Up $2,500 in Charges

After Credit Cards Stolen from Darien YMCA Locker, Over $7,000 in Charges Attempted at Stamford Mall

Police: Darien Resident Finds Fraudulent $1,350 Bank Withdrawal, Has No Idea How It Happened

Fraudulent Bank Account Opened, Used to Steal More Than $10,000 From Darien Victim

Police: Boyfriend, 41, Charged with Stealing from Girlfriend’s Darien Father

More Than $25,000 Stolen When Credit Cards Opened in the Name of Darien Woman’s Parents

Thefts from Shoppers at Two Darien Grocery Stores on Same Day

Seen This Man? Darien Police Would Like to Talk to Him

Police: Man Thwarted in Trying to Withdraw Money from a Bank in Darien by Using a False Name

Identity Theft: Darien Man Reports Store Card Account Fraudulently Opened, $2,957 in Purchases Made in His Name

More Reports of Mail Stolen After Being Dropped Off Outdoors at Post Office

Darien Police Issue Statement on Recent Post Office Mail Box Thefts

Check Mailing Roulette: Two More Reports of Checks Stolen from Outdoor Post Office Mailbox

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | December 27, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | December 17, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | December 10, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | November 27, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | October 30, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | October 24, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | October 7, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | September 26, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | August 7, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | June 26, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | April 15, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | March 19, 2019

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By David Gurliacci | January 28, 2019

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By DARIENITE.COM | January 24, 2019

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | January 21, 2019

When an employee at Chase Bank at 165 Noroton Avenue looked at the Florida driver’s license a customer had provided as identification, it didn’t seem to be real. The employee told the customer he was seizing the license and he would have to go to police to get it back. That conversation at about 2:45 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 18, ended when the customer, who wanted to transfer $1,000 from one account to another, then turned around and left the bank. The employee thought the driver’s license didn’t seem to be the right size or have the right watermarks on it.

For the second time in a month, money, credit and bank cards were stolen from a wallet in a Darien YMCA locker, according to police. Unlike last time, on Nov. 21, when the theft occurred in the men’s locker room, this one happened in the women’s locker room (although the victim said two males had separately entered the women’s locker room, unannounced, earlier). This time, police were told the locker was unsecured; the last victim had said he’d locked up his property. It was only an hour and three minutes after the victim had put her wallet in an unsecured locker and a fraudulent transaction online attempting to use her money.

Credit cards stolen from an employee’s wallet at the Everything Is Rosey store downtown on Wednesday, Dec. 4 provided the thief or thieves with cards used to charge $2,500 in fraudulent transactions, police said. Police were called at 3:57 p.m. that day and went to the store at 1072 Post Road. The victim had left her wallet on a table in the store, she told police. She believed that two suspicious individuals who were in the store earlier might have stolen the cards.

After a victim’s money and credit cards were stolen from a locked locker at the Darien YMCA on Thursday, Nov. 21, the thief or thieves tried to rack up a total of $7,133.37 in two attempts to use his credit card to buy items at the Stamford Town Center mall, police said. Police gave these additional details of the incident:

The victim said that at about 1 p.m. that day, he secured his locker in the men’s locker room at the YMCA, thinking his money and credit cards would be safe inside. At 1:40 p.m. he returned to the locker, gathered his belongings and left. Soon afterward, his bank texted him, asking if he had tried to charge $4,253.94 for a purchase at Macy’s.

A Darien woman told police she checked her bank account online found a fraudulent check withdrawal that cost her $1,350, made out to someone she didn’t know and cashed in faraway Destin, Florida. Worse than all of that: She has no idea how it happened: “The complainant had no thoughts as to how her bank account could have been compromised,” the police announcement said. The woman, who lives on a small street off of Camp Avenue, reported the theft on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The police announcement didn’t say if her bank was refunding her the money it let someone else have (or if she was dumping that bank to use another, or what bank she was using).

A Darien man who checked his bank account online on Saturday, Oct. 12 found charges and transfers that he didn’t make. In 16 fraudulent transactions, $10,492.52 was removed from his account into a new account and a credit card, both opened in his name at the same bank. The man contacted his bank and was told two debit cards, a credit card had been issued and a bank account had been opened in his name. The fraudulent activity continued after the man had spoken with the bank.

The boyfriend of a Darien man’s adult daughter stole checks — along with $300 in cash and a credit card from the man’s dresser — resulting in the arrests of the boyfriend and another Stamford man, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

Sometime before June 7, when he went to police, the Darien man found a total of five fraudulent checks cashed against his bank account, with a total of $1,455 withdrawn. Several of the checks were made out to Richard Simmons of Stamford. Another $556 was taken from the credit card account through the Venmo app. The victim’s bank gave him cancelled checks and copies of IDs used to cash the checks.

A Darien woman told police that identity information for her elderly parents was used to open multiple credit cards, in a scam that led to more than $25,000 in charges. She suspects her ex-husband, who had access to the information needed to open the accounts, she told police. Her husband, a doctor or former doctor, is now serving time in federal prison after he was convicted of multiple counts of health care fraud. He has not been charged with any crimes in connection with this incident. The police announcement about the matter didn’t name the doctor, but the Tokeneke Road address on the announcement is the same one where Ramil Mansourov lived.

A wallet and an entire purse were taken from two grocery store customers in Darien on the same day, Sunday July 25 — one at Stop and Shop on Heights Road, the other at Trader Joe’s, police said. Within hours of the thefts — by the time the victims realized their credit cards were gone and contacted the card issuers — hundreds of dollars had already been charged to each card, Darien police said. Police did not say whether they suspect the two incidents are connected. Police described each incident this way:
At Stop & Shop
A shopper at Stop & Shop at 148 Heights Road told police that she was in the store between 2 and 2:30 p.m., then, as she was in the checkout lane, she realized her purse wasn’t in her pocketbook. She had $50 in the purse, along with her driver’s license and bank cards.

Update, June 26: Darien police have released these pictures of the man reported loitering on Oak Park Avenue on Wednesday, June 19, and police released the following statement:

In an attempt to ensure residents are aware of an ongoing mail fraud scheme, the Darien Police [Department] is releasing information and images about the suspect involved in a recent incident where an attempt was made to intercept mail containing fraudulent bank cards. The individual, who identifies himself as “Paul Doane,” has been observed in Darien on two occasions. Investigation into his potential criminal activity revealed he has been contacted by police in other jurisdictions within the state. We ask the public’s assistance in reporting any sightings of the individual in the images we’ve provided. Camera footage shows him to be driving a silver sedan with Canadian plates.

A 49-year-old man tried to withdraw money from an account at HSBC Bank under a false name on Thursday, but police were called, and he was arrested, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

The man entered HSBC Bank at 151 Post Road shortly before 1:30 p.m. and tried to withdraw the money using a falsified New Jersey driver’s license and bank cards, all bearing the name “William Evans.” Something made bank employees suspicious, and police were called. When they arrived, police questioned the man, who told them his name is “William Evans.” He said he was at the bank to withdraw money.

A Brookside Road man told police that someone opened a William Sonoma credit card using his name and charged $2,957 at a store in White Plains, New York, and he’d found fraudulent purchases on another credit card. Darien police provided these further details from what the man told them:

On March 11, the man told police he believed someone had used his personal information to get the William Sonoma credit card. He had received notification that the card had been opened and the money charged to it on Feb. 24 at the William Sonoma store. He also showed police a letter from Nordstrom telling him that an application he never made for a credit card with that chain of stores had been denied.

Mailing checks from the outdoor mailbox at Darien Post Office got expensive for several more people over the past two weeks — a total of almost $18,000 was stolen when the checks were altered and cashed, police said. Darien police received four more complaints of mail stolen after it was put in the mailbox outside the Post Office on Corbin Drive, downtown. Several thefts of checks mailed from the same box have been reported to police, starting in October. A total of $17,938.86 was stolen. Police gave these further details for each theft:

— A check to Aquarion for $100 was altered to $998.33. It was mailed in the afternoon on Sunday, Jan.

Darien Police Department on Thursday afternoon issued this statement to town residents thinking of mailing items, especially checks, from outdoor mailboxes, including the ones outside Darien and Noroton Heights Post Offices. Police are trying to get the Post Office to install theft-deterrent mailboxes, the announcement said. As for what you can do to help avoid getting victimized, police say town residents should “take steps to safeguard their outgoing mail.” Here’s the announcement:

The Darien Police Department continues to receive complaints in regards to articles of outgoing mail being stolen from inside United State Post Office depositories. From the stolen mail, any outgoing checks are removed and altered.

« August 2022 »

Apparently mail is still being stolen from the outdoor mailbox at Darien Post Office on Corbin Drive: Twice last week, Darien police received reports from people telling them the checks they mailed from that spot had been altered for higher amounts and cashed. Darien police provided this information on each case:

On Sunday, Jan. 13, one victim mailed a check for $275, but on Thursday, Jan. 17, the victim noticed a check had been cashed against the account for $4,300. The image of the check showed that not only had the amount been altered, but also the recipient.