Police looking for man, woman in connection with check-cashing scheme
Suspects have scammed trucking company out of almost $4,000, police say
Oklahoma City White Collar Crime investigators are looking for two people wanted in connection with a check-cashing scheme.
About 12:45 p.m. Feb. 11, police received a call about a man and a woman obtaining money under false pretenses, according to a police report. A member of Swift Transportation's security team, which is based in Phoenix, called Oklahoma City police because the suspects were cashing checks that the company sent them in Oklahoma City.
The suspects reportedly defrauded Swift Transportation of between $3,500 and $4,000, officials said. Swift Transportation received 191 phone calls from the suspects during a 10-day period.
According to the report, the suspects pretended to be truck drivers. They told Swift Transportation that their truck was stuck in the mud on the shoulder of the road, and a tow truck was trying to move the trailer.
The two said they called because they needed money to move the truck, according to the report. They attempted to receive checks 12 times, although six of the attempts were stopped because the operator became suspicious.
Money was sent the other six times.
On two occasions, Swift Transportation sent money to the driver's fuel card, but the driver was confused about why he received the money, according to the report. The company then removed the money from the card.
During the other four attempts, money was loaded onto numbered blank checks, and Swift Transportation put money into the checking account for the checks, the report said. The suspects received four authorization codes to cash the checks, all of which were cashed in Oklahoma City.
The suspects cashed the checks at different Oklahoma City locations, including at Pilot Flying J, 701 S. Morgan Road, Pilot Travel Center, 400 S. Morgan Road, and a Love's Travel Stop. Authorities do not have information about where the fourth check was cashed.
The man and woman were given the money and authorization numbers after they answered all the appropriate protocol questions correctly, according to the report. Investigators are unsure how the suspects obtained all the information needed to answer the questions.
Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 405-235-7300.