On Dec. 4, a reporting officer was approached by the complainant at the Winthrop Police Department building. The complainant informed the officer that they had recently been a victim of fraud. The victim explained that they had been told about a paid-remote internship with a company called Health Care Without Harm. After checking and confirming that the company was real, the victim applied for the internship and received an email a few days later asking if they could do a Google Hangout interview.
The victim was hired the next day and was provided a training schedule, how much pay she would receive and emailed an employment agreement to sign. A week later, the victim was offered a full-time position and a computer to work remotely and was told that she would receive a check that would require a money order to receive her computer from the company. After sending the first check, the victim was told that she would need to send another to pay the cost of the remaining materials.
The victim stated that both transactions went well and that they did not notice any abnormalities until Dec. 3, when they discovered that their bank account was showing a negative balance. Their bank informed them that the negative
balance was likely due to receiving fraudulent checks from HCWH. The victim visited the HCWH website and contacted the person they believed they were interacting with through email, who informed the victim that they had not been contacting them and the person they were receiving emails from was an impostor and not affiliated with HCWH. The victim provided the reporting officer the impostor’s email alongside the name and address of the person they sent the money order to.
Assistant Chief Yearta informed the victim of the investigation process and told them the process would take at least a couple of months.
On Dec. 7, a reporting officer was dispatched to the Lee Wicker parking lot in response to a report that a vehicle had been broken into. The officer made contact with the victim at the scene, who explained that they had begun moving items into their car around 4 p.m., after which they left their vehicle unlocked. The victim stated that he did not return to his car until approximately 9 p.m., upon which they noticed papers from their glove box thrown into the passenger seat and $40 missing from his wallet that he had left in the vehicle. The officer did not observe any damage to the vehicle. The officer advised the victim to try to remember to always lock their vehicle’s doors and to never leave any valuables inside the car for an extended period.
On Dec. 22, a reporting officer spotted three suspicious individuals in the alleyway of the Crawford Building whilst performing a property check. Upon spotting the subjects, the officer attempted to make contact with the group, but the subjects fled the area. The officer pursued the group on foot between the Bancroft and the Margaret Nance Hall but lost sight of the subjects. The officer patrolled the entire campus but was un- able to further locate the subjects.
Afterward, the officer performed a property check on the Crawford Building, Bancroft Hall and Margaret Nance and did not observe any signs of property damage. While conducting the property check, the officer had reason to suspect that the subjects may have been driving a red Jeep that had been parked in the Margaret Nance parking lot. The officer ran the plate of the car and obtained information relating to the vehicle owner’s identity and address. The officer then left the area to perform another property check around the campus. When the officer returned, the vehicle was no longer seen in the parking lot.
The officer observed that the address associated with the vehicle was close to campus and drove to the house and spotted the red Jeep, but did not attempt to make contact and returned to the campus. The officer used the Axis camera
station to observe footage of the incident. One of the camera angles showed the subjects driving onto campus and parking their vehicle, a red Jeep, in the Margaret Nance parking lot. The three subjects were then observed exiting the vehicle and walking toward Margaret Nance.
The group attempted to gain access into the building through the main entrance but was unsuccessful. The subjects were then observed walking around the building and attempted to enter through the side entrance but were also unsuccessful. The camera then showed the officer spotting the subjects fleeing. The camera later showed one of the subjects entering the vehicle and driving off with the other two subjects not seen returning to the vehicle. With the evidence observed on the camera footage, the reporting officer suspected that the subjects were attempting to commit a burglary.
