The Wellesley Police log is frequently peppered with various incidents of fraud, including check fraud, and residents say things have gotten worse lately.

One reader wrote recently of having noticed noticed an unauthorized $10,000 withdrawal from their bank account. “Long story short—after notifying the bank and doing some investigation, I contacted the Wellesley police to report this. I then learned that my loss was one of a number that occurred following theft of mail from post office boxes in town.”

Fortunately for that resident, their bank reversed the withdrawal after receiving a detailed memo from the customer about the theft that included the police report. The customer has emailed friends warning them of the situation as well.

The theft brought back bad memories of the fishing scheme that crooks unleashed on the town back in 2019, in which they would lower sticky mouse traps via wire into mailboxes and snag checks. Then they’d alter the information on the checks and cash them illegally. The U. S. Postal Service responded by retrofitting mailboxes with devices to thwart such theft.

But now we hear thieves have become even more brazen in town.

A reader wrote that a neighbor had their mail stolen out of a mailbox outside the post office in Wellesley Square.

“Rather than the ‘fishing’ that happened in 2019 and led to the new more restrictive mail slots, now the thieves are taking the access doors off the mailboxes, stealing envelopes, altering checks and cashing them,” the reader wrote. “As you can imagine, when this happens it is a lot of work to clear this up with the bank, whoever the check was originally for, etc. So once again the advice is to deposit your mail inside the post office.”

We reached out to the Wellesley Police Department earlier in the week and they said they were planning to issue a public service announcement, which they have. The police say other communities are experiencing similar crime.

Among the advice from the police is to mail checks from within a post office when possible. If using a public mailbox, check that a collection will take place that day. And avoid mailing checks from your home mailbox.

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Wellesley MA police log for the period of Jan. 25-29:

Arrests

On January 27, 2022 at 10:55 p.m. Officer Scopa was dispatched to the area of Worcester Street near Weston Road for a report of an erratic operator.  The vehicle was located exiting Worcester Street onto Weston Road.  Officer Dixon attempted to stop the vehicle on Weston Road at Pilgrim.  The vehicle turned onto Pilgrim Road and stopped near Wilde Road.  Once the vehicle was stopped the operator exited the vehicle and told the officers he was okay.  Officer Scopa noticed there was damage to the right front tire and the rear of the vehicle.  When speaking with the driver, Officer Scopa detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath.  The driver was afforded the opportunity to take some reasonable tests of balance and coordination and was unable to successfully pass those tests.  He was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and later released on personal recognizance.

Incidents

On January 25, 2022 at 9:45 a.m. an officer was dispatched to a business on Central Street for a report of fraud.  The officer spoke with the owner of the business who stated two checks had been cashed against the businesses bank account that she did not write.  She did not recognize the names the checks were written out to.  The incident is under investigation.

On January 25, 2022 at 3:40 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a bank on Washington Street for a report of male party who had attempted to cash a fraudulent check at approximately 2:15 p.m.  The male party provided a driver’s license to cash the check.  The bank teller contacted the business and learned they still had the check number presented in their possession.  The male party asked for the check back and left the bank.  The male party identified by his license will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Forgery of a Check and Uttering a False check.

On January 26, 2022 at 6:14 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a residence for an unknown male party who had entered the residence, apologized and stated he thought he was babysitting at that residence and then left.  It was later determined that the male party went to the wrong residence and was babysitting nearby.

On January 27, 2022 at 4:17 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party regarding damage to a window screen at her residence.  The officer observed damage to two exterior window screens that looked as though someone had used a screwdriver or similar type of tool to pry them up.  There was no access gained to the residence.  There are no suspects at this time.

On January 27, 2022 at 8:09 p.m. an officer spoke to two female parties regarding alleged threats to break into a locked room in their apartment.  The reporting party indicated that her roommate threatened to break into her room in the apartment because she refused to pay the cable bill.  The other female party stated she did not make any threats but merely asked the roommate to pay the cable bill.  The officer spoke to both female parties over the phone as neither of them were present at the residence. 

On January 28, 2022 at 11:25 a.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party who noticed two wooden dowels approximately 12’’ long sticking out of a window on her first floor.  She was unsure how long the wooden dowels had been there.   The residence had not been entered, but she wanted to report the incident.

On January 29, 2022 at 5:42 a.m. officers were dispatched to an apartment for an unwanted party.  The female reporting party stated that she had a friend staying over and that after she went to bed for the night the friend became louder and louder and refused to leave the apartment.  The officers spoke with the female party who agreed to leave, but was having difficulty arranging for a ride home.  She was eventually able to arrange for a ride home and left the apartment.

On January 29, 2022 at 5:55 p.m. an officer was dispatched to speak to a resident about a snow plow that had pushed a pile of snow to the end of the street causing one lane of the street to be blocked.  The neighbor who plowed the snow stated he has done so in the past and the snow is then plowed by the town plows.  He was advised that it is against the town bylaws to plow snow into the street and he agreed to move it to another location.

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Wellesley MA police log for the period of Jan. 10-21:

Arrests

A several month long investigation by Officer Misho culminated in the arrest of suspect on January 10, 2022 at 7:20 a.m.  In January 2020 Officer Misho spoke with a female reporting party who had fallen victim to a romance scam.  Over a period of a few months she sent several thousand dollars to an unknown individual who was posing as a male party that she believed she was in a romantic relationship with.   Officer Misho’s investigation revealed that the man had received one of the wire transfers made by the victim, withdrew the funds from his bank account and wired the funds to an individual in Nigeria.  He was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and transported to Dedham District Court.   

Incidents

On January 10, 2022 at 1:17 a.m. an officer was conducting security checks of businesses on Worcester Street when he observed a moped at a closed gas station.  As he approached the gas station, the moped and driver drove around the back of the building.  The officer was aware of a recent breaking and entering into a gas station in Natick and checked the doors to ensure they were securely locked.  While he was checking the doors the moped came back around to the front of the building and when the officer attempted to engage the driver he evaded the officer and drove westbound in the eastbound lane and then turned onto a side street.  The officer later located the moped in a parking lot but was unable to locate the driver.  The moped was not properly registered and was towed.

On January 11, 2022 at 6:32 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a business on Worcester Street for a report of an unruly customer.  The officer encountered the male party outside who admitted he did yell at a store employee when they did not have an item he wanted but thought it was an overreaction to contact the police.  The store employee stated the male party has become angry at other store employees in the past yelling and swearing at them.  The male party stated he would shop at another location in the future.

On January 13, 2022 at 12:40 p.m. an officer spoke to a female party who claimed someone had hit her vehicle while it was parked overnight.  The officer looked at the vehicle and noticed the damage to the front of the vehicle was consistent with damage to the guardrail it was parked up against.  The officer asked the reporting party if anyone else had keys to the vehicle.  The reporting party indicated she was the only one with keys to the vehicle but was unaware that the guardrail had been struck when parking the vehicle.  She was advised to contact her insurance company to file a claim for repairs to the vehicle.

On January 15, 2022 at 9:22 a.m. an officer spoke with a male reporting party who was the victim of a Craigslist scam.  The male party posted an item for sale on Craigslist and a potential buyer stated they would like to buy the item and sent a check for $1,500 more than the cost of the item and asked that the $1,500 be sent back to them via Venmo.  The male party deposited the check and sent the $1,500 before learning the check was fraudulent.  The bank indicated they would refund him the $1,500.   There are no suspects.

On January 15, 2022 at 6:11 p.m. an officer spoke to a male reporting party who stated he had left his pickup truck running on Central Street when he went into a restaurant to pick up some takeout food.  He stated when he exited the restaurant he noticed someone trying to move his vehicle and he was unable to get to the vehicle in time to stop the unknown individual from taking it.  He stated the vehicle was driven west on Central Street.   A Wellesley College Officer heard the radio transmission and began checking their campus and the area as well.  The Wellesley College Officer noticed a pickup truck running with another vehicle parked next to it in one of the parking lots on their campus.  The officer spoke to a male party that was standing between the pickup truck and another vehicle and asked him what was going on and he indicated he was just leaving and entered a Mazda and left the campus.  A query of that vehicle’s registration revealed it had been stolen in Malden.  

On January 17, 2022 at 12:45 an officer was dispatched to inspect a traffic control box on Washington Street at Seaward Road for a poster that had been pasted on the box.  The officer found a poster for Patriot Front.  Another officer located similar posters on two traffic control boxes on Washington Street.  The posters were removed and any damage to the paint will be repaired by the artists who painted the boxes.  The incident is under investigation.

On January 17, 2022 at 4:05 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the area of Cross Street for an aggressive dog that was unleashed.  The officer spoke to the male reporting party and the dog owner. The reporting party indicated the neighbor’s dog has attacked him by jumping on him on two occasions and he will be hiring an attorney to address the issue of the dog being unleashed.  The dog owner was apologetic and indicated the electric fence to keep the dog on his property malfunctioned and he will get it repaired.  He indicated the dog jumps when he is excited and he did not believe the dog was trying to harm his neighbor.  ACO Smith was notified and will follow up to ensure the fence is repaired.

On January 18, 2022 at 12:28 p.m. an officer spoke with a male party who stated his girlfriend’s bicycle had been stolen in Boston in September 2021 and he had been tracking bicycles being sold on the internet and noticed a bicycle that he believed might be his girlfriend’s being sold by an individual in Wellesley.  The officer spoke with the seller and was able to verify that the bicycle was not the one that had been stolen and that the seller buys used bicycles, fixes them up and resells them.

On January 18, 2021 at 2:56 p.m. an officer spoke with a female reporting party who noticed a male party in a vehicle taking photographs of her home.  The reporting party provided a vehicle description to the Emergency Communications Center.  The officer checked the area and was unable to locate the vehicle.  The reporting party stated when she made eye contact with the operator of the vehicle he quickly accelerated away from the area.  The reporting party was concerned because a vehicle was stolen from the residence a year ago and she noticed someone outside of the residence prior to the vehicle being taken.  The officer advised her to lock the car doors and ensure the house was secured as well.  

On January 18, 2022 at 3:50 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party regarding a missing diamond necklace valued at $20,000.  The reporting party stated the necklace had been secured in a lock box while they were away and that there had been several people in the residence while they were gone.  On January 19^th the reporting party called back and stated the necklace had been located damaged in the garage.  

On January 21, 2022 at 2:10 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party that has been receiving unwanted text messages from an unknown person.  She had received six text messages over a period of three months.  She stated she believed the text messages may have come from her ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend or someone else his ex-girlfriend knows.  The incident is under investigation.

On January 21, 2022 at 3:15 p.m. an officer spoke to a female reporting party regarding a bank account being fraudulently opened in her name.  She stated she received a letter from a bank in Ohio confirming overdraft protection on a bank account that she had not opened.  When she contacted the bank the social security number associated with the account was not hers and they would not give her any identifying information on who may have opened the account.  The officer provided her with a copy of the Wellesley Police Department Identity Theft Guide and advised her to review her credit report to ensure there were no other accounts that had been compromised or other suspicious activity.

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