Crime Watch

Gran LarcenyIt looks as if one Upper West Side resident might want to have a serious talk with her granddaughter. On Sept. 16, a West 96th Street resident went away for three days while her granddaughter stayed home with some friends. When the grandmother returned home at three days later, various pieces of her jewelry were missing. These included a diamond ring with an 18-karat yellow metal band, a diamond ring with three diamond stones and two ruby stones, and a yellow metal necklace with a yellow metal pendant. The total stolen came to $43,800. The victim told police that the person who took her jewelry appears to be someone known to her granddaughter.

UnwarrantedRemember, folks, the genuine IRS does NOT accept payment in the form of store gift cards! On Sept. 21, a West 102nd Street resident received phone calls from an unknown person claiming to represent the IRS stating that the woman needed to send payment immediately, or risk arrest. Accordingly, the victim transferred $3,800 to a specified Chase account and later emailed Best Buy gift cards in the amount of $14,700. The total stolen in the scam came to $18,500.

Stony PhonyThe only way to combat ID theft is to keep a wary eye on your account balance. A 45-year-old man living on West 107th Street told police that between April 12 and Sept. 23, an unknown person or persons withdrew nearly $22,000 from his account on multiple occasions using fraudulent checks. The victim told police he was not missing any checks from his checkbook. The first two checks were cashed in Stony Point, NY.

Catch 22Yet another West Side resident became a victim of ID theft. At noon on Sept. 12, a West End Avenue resident was at a Citibank ATM when he noticed that his balance was lower than it should have been. He contacted the bank to ask about his account and soon discovered that there had been some 22 transactions made in multiple places by someone using his personal information. The bank told the man that they could not cancel his account due to the ongoing investigation, but they would place a hold on the account until the investigation was complete. The total stolen came to $8,769, including more than $8,000 in Internet purchases.