SANTA ROSA, Calif.–A man has been arrested here and charged with suspicion of grand theft and fraud in a scam that involved Facebook and allegedly defrauded members of Redwood Credit Union.
According to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Ahmad Rashad Carter, 20, of Chicago, allegedly used Facebook to trick five Redwood CU members into providing personal account information that was then used to defraud the members of almost $60,000. The charges were originally reported by Patch.com.
Police said that the suspect or suspects became friends with the victim through Facebook, and after a short period of time, offered the victims a quick way to make money by accepting checks into the victims’ accounts, Ludtke said. According to Patch.com, police said the victims then gave the suspect their personal log-in information and credentials, and using mobile deposit the suspect would then deposit a number of checks into the victims’ accounts over several days, Ludtke said.
Authorities said that after three-to-five days, the suspect would direct the victims to withdraw the money he had deposited into the victims’ accounts minus a 10% profit for the suspect. When the victims removed the money from their accounts, the suspect gave them an account number at another financial institution and directed the victims to deposit the money into that account, Patch.com reported. A few days later, the checks that were deposited via mobile deposit were found to be fraudulent, Ludtke said.
At least one of the victims had met the suspects in person and delivered cash. Patch.com reported that Santa Rosa police conducted an undercover operation in which a “victim” was to meet with the suspects at a pre-arranged location and deliver money. Carter was arrested when he showed up.