How dumb can people be to fall for these scams?:
Gregory Lamar Scorza, 24. (Johnson County Jail
A Georgia man was arrested Monday in Iowa City on charges that he and two other men scammed someone out of $15,600 by pretending to be law enforcement officers.
Gregory Lamar Scorza, 24, of Douglasville, Ga., is charged with identity theft, impersonating a public official and ongoing criminal conduct.
According to a criminal complaint, Scorza and two other men — Demonte Tequis Brazil, 31, and Anthony Cortez Jones, 23, both of Atlanta — traveled to Iowa and impersonated Johnson County sheriff’s deputies.
On Sept. 27, 2023, the three men told an Iowa City victim that without a large payment, the victim would be arrested. The victim gave them $15,600 over two transactions. The men used some of the money to buy jewelry at the Coral Ridge Mall, the complaint states.
The men already had scammed three others in Iowa when the Iowa City scheme took place, according to the complaint.
Brazil and Jones are both facing charges in Pottawattamie County for a similar scam. According to complaints in that case, Brazil and Jones scammed a woman out of $5,000 on Sept. 25, 2023. The woman reported that three men called her to tell her she was wanted on a federal warrant for failure to appear and contempt of court. Two men claimed to be deputies from the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and the third said he was a bail bonds agent.
They told the woman she had to turn herself in to prove the courts had not served her, and that she had to pay $5,000 immediately. She was told she could not pay at the bail bonds office because it was federal property and she wasn’t allowed on federal property because of her warrant. She met one of the men behind the bail bonds office, and gave him $5,000. She was then told to go to the Pottawattamie County Jail to show she had paid her bond. When no one was waiting for her there, she realized she had been scammed.
Two other people reported that they had received calls on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 from men claiming to be Council Bluffs police officers and who said they needed to pay money to clear a warrant. The other two people who were called recognized the calls were scams and did not pay, the complaint states.
Police used traffic camera footage to track the car that the man who had taken the money had exited. They ran the license plate and found it was a rental car, and they determined Brazil was the man who had rented it. Since Brazil’s address was in Georgia, police checked flight records and found that Brazil had purchased two flights to Iowa — and one was for Jones.
Brazil and Jones were arrested Sept. 28 in Pottawattamie County on charges of identity theft, impersonating a public official and first-degree theft. Both cases are pending.
A warrant was issued Oct. 9 in Johnson County for Scorza, and he was arrested Monday. He had an initial appearance in court Tuesday and was being held on a $40,000 bail.
www.thegazette.com
A Georgia man was arrested Monday in Iowa City on charges that he and two other men scammed someone out of $15,600 by pretending to be law enforcement officers.
Gregory Lamar Scorza, 24, of Douglasville, Ga., is charged with identity theft, impersonating a public official and ongoing criminal conduct.
According to a criminal complaint, Scorza and two other men — Demonte Tequis Brazil, 31, and Anthony Cortez Jones, 23, both of Atlanta — traveled to Iowa and impersonated Johnson County sheriff’s deputies.
On Sept. 27, 2023, the three men told an Iowa City victim that without a large payment, the victim would be arrested. The victim gave them $15,600 over two transactions. The men used some of the money to buy jewelry at the Coral Ridge Mall, the complaint states.
The men already had scammed three others in Iowa when the Iowa City scheme took place, according to the complaint.
Brazil and Jones are both facing charges in Pottawattamie County for a similar scam. According to complaints in that case, Brazil and Jones scammed a woman out of $5,000 on Sept. 25, 2023. The woman reported that three men called her to tell her she was wanted on a federal warrant for failure to appear and contempt of court. Two men claimed to be deputies from the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and the third said he was a bail bonds agent.
They told the woman she had to turn herself in to prove the courts had not served her, and that she had to pay $5,000 immediately. She was told she could not pay at the bail bonds office because it was federal property and she wasn’t allowed on federal property because of her warrant. She met one of the men behind the bail bonds office, and gave him $5,000. She was then told to go to the Pottawattamie County Jail to show she had paid her bond. When no one was waiting for her there, she realized she had been scammed.
Two other people reported that they had received calls on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 from men claiming to be Council Bluffs police officers and who said they needed to pay money to clear a warrant. The other two people who were called recognized the calls were scams and did not pay, the complaint states.
Police used traffic camera footage to track the car that the man who had taken the money had exited. They ran the license plate and found it was a rental car, and they determined Brazil was the man who had rented it. Since Brazil’s address was in Georgia, police checked flight records and found that Brazil had purchased two flights to Iowa — and one was for Jones.
Brazil and Jones were arrested Sept. 28 in Pottawattamie County on charges of identity theft, impersonating a public official and first-degree theft. Both cases are pending.
A warrant was issued Oct. 9 in Johnson County for Scorza, and he was arrested Monday. He had an initial appearance in court Tuesday and was being held on a $40,000 bail.
Georgia man charged in Iowa City with law enforcement scam
A Georgia man was arrested Monday in Iowa City on charges that he and two other men scammed someone out of $15,600 by pretending to be law enforcement officers.
www.thegazette.com
