FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Another Central Florida investigation into an alleged scammer impersonating law enforcement has resulted in the arrest of a Palm Coast man, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Tory Harvey, 24, of Palm Coast, faces charges of organized scheme to defraud and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The sheriff’s office was contacted on Monday by a victim who believed he was being scammed, telling investigators that someone claiming to be from the agency was threatening to arrest him via warrant if he didn’t come up with $5,000, according to the release.
With detectives now listening in, a voice over the phone allegedly instructed the victim to deposit the money into a Bitcoin ATM, which the victim refused to do, the release states. The victim was then told to leave an envelope with cash inside a mailbox along Wellhaven Lane in Palm Coast, deputies said.
Moments after detectives placed an empty envelope in the mailbox, Harvey was seen retrieving it and running away, according to the sheriff’s office. The voice on the phone then reportedly gave the victim an angry earful, investigators said.
The victim led the voice on some more, telling it that he only hesitated out of fear and would leave the money for real, according to the release. Upon Harvey’s second time approaching the mailbox, he was taken into custody, the release states.
Detectives would reportedly determine that Harvey worked with a co-conspirator and was neither the organizer of the scam nor the voice on the phone, according to the sheriff’s office. He was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and was later released on a $5,000 bond, investigators said.
An investigation is ongoing to identify additional suspects, the sheriff’s office said, adding scam reports can be brought to its non-emergency number at 386-313-4911.
Just Wednesday, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of a woman accused of a nearly-identical crime in which she allegedly pretended to be a lieutenant with a warrant for a local woman’s arrest, ultimately stealing $9,300 from the victim, according to investigators.