Westerville Police Field Scam Reports Almost Weekly, Chief Says
Video of suspect's arrest in recent scam attempt.
Recent $400,000 scam attempt stopped by police
Westerville police receive scam reports almost every week, and Police Chief Holly Murchland said losses of about $400,000, like a recent attempt, are not unusual.
The schemes often demand payment in bitcoin, gold or cash — assets that can be difficult to recover once transferred or collected.
Many callers recognize the warning signs before losing money, she said. Others surrender substantial portions of their savings, and some victims never report the loss because of embarrassment or fear that relatives will question their judgment.
The frequency of the reports puts the recent case of a 76-year-old Westerville woman in broader context. She avoided losing 80 gold bars worth about $400,000 after becoming suspicious and going to the police before a planned handoff. She had already lost $40,000 in cash.
“We get calls almost weekly,” Murchland said. “It happens a lot.” Asked whether $400,000 was among the department’s largest scam cases, she said, “That’s not unusual.”
The scheme began after someone compromised the woman’s Amazon account and placed an unauthorized order, according to a police report. As she tried to resolve the problem, she communicated with people claiming to represent Amazon, her bank, and the federal government.
One caller posed as a U.S. Marshal and told her that accounts opened in her name were connected to money laundering, drug trafficking, and sex trafficking. He sent images of purported federal credentials and warned that her assets would be frozen unless she cooperated.
The scammers also appeared to spoof the Westerville Police Department’s non-emergency number to reinforce the deception.
According to the police report, the woman received a call that appeared to come from the department. A man identifying himself as “Sgt. David Grimes” told her the planned exchange was legitimate and part of a federal investigation. He said Westerville officers would be nearby to protect her and ensure the exchange went smoothly.
The department has no officer by that name. David Grimes is the mayor of Westerville, suggesting the scammers combined a familiar local name with a police title to make the call appear credible.
The caller kept her on the phone during financial transactions and coached her on what to say when bank employees questioned her withdrawals.
After Chase employees raised concerns about a $40,000 request, the woman moved her money to PNC Bank and withdrew the cash. At the caller’s direction, she wrapped it in aluminum foil and sealed it inside a shoebox.
A man in a dark sedan came to her home and collected the box through the vehicle’s window, police said.
The scammers then targeted her retirement savings. She transferred more than $400,000 from Fidelity Investments to her bank account and purchased 80 gold bars from Buckeye Gold on State Street.
Ian Connell of Buckeye Gold said employees questioned the woman several times. She completed the required paperwork and repeatedly said everything was all right.
“She filled out all the paperwork,” Connell said. “She said she wasn’t in trouble.”
Connell said the purchase was large but not so unusual as to clearly indicate fraud. Legitimate customers sometimes move significant sums into precious metals to hold assets outside traditional banks or brokerage accounts.
“It was a bit unusual, but not completely unusual,” he said.
That makes it difficult for banks, shipping companies, and gold dealers to distinguish between scam victims and customers making legitimate transactions. Victims also may have been coached to conceal the real purpose of a withdrawal, shipment, or purchase.
Editor’s note: The video above is from Westerville Police body cameras during the apprehension of the suspect in the scam attempt. It has been edited for length and to remove silent periods.
Murchland said scammers often begin by asking for a smaller amount before escalating their demands.
“Usually they ask for a little, and then they ask for a lot,” she said.
Noam Shpancer, an Otterbein University psychology professor, said the scheme followed a common pattern of “high-pressure social engineering” that targets people.
Scammers typically manufacture a crisis, invoke the authority of police or government agencies, and demand immediate action before a victim has time to think, he said. Threats of arrest, frozen accounts, or catastrophic financial loss are especially effective because people are generally more motivated to avoid losses than to pursue gains.
“The illusion of urgency manipulation is a psychological trick used to pressure people into making fast decisions before they have a chance to consider the situation rationally and fully,” Shpancer said.
Once a victim complies with a small request, scammers often escalate to greater demands, he said. That “foot in the door” technique can be reinforced by the sunk-cost effect, in which people continue because they have already invested time, money or effort.
Scammers also seek secrecy to isolate victims from relatives, bank employees, or others who might challenge the story, Shpancer said. By controlling the payment method — often cash, gold or cryptocurrency — they also try to make the money difficult to trace or recover.
Bitcoin has become especially common, Murchland said. Police can sometimes help recover cryptocurrency, but only if the transfer is reported promptly.
“We have a very limited amount of time, if we’re aware of it, to try to retrieve the money,” she said. “If it’s not reported in a timely manner, we have a hard time getting the money back.”
Cash and gold also appeal to scammers because they can be collected directly and moved quickly.
In the Westerville woman’s case, the scammers instructed her to record the serial number of each gold bar and prepare to meet another supposed agent.
Before the exchange, she began to feel that something was wrong. She told the caller she needed to visit a pharmacy but instead went to the Westerville Police Department.
“She had a gut feeling,” Murchland said. “She was going to be emptying out her entire life savings, and she just didn’t want to do that.”
The woman provided officers with detailed notes she had kept during the scheme. Police then used the planned handoff to set up surveillance near a Starbucks on North State Street.
Investigators noticed a gray Mazda with Illinois license plates moving slowly near the woman’s vehicle and remaining in the area around the expected meeting time. Officers stopped the car as it began to leave and detained the driver, identified as Ankush.
A search of the vehicle, conducted with his consent, uncovered several cellphones and a document listing another person’s name and address under the heading “victim information,” police said.
The information led investigators to a Michigan resident who reported handing money to someone driving a silver car with Illinois plates. Murchland said Michigan State Police also were investigating the suspect.
Police charged Ankush with attempted theft from a person in a protected class, a second-degree felony, and attempted telecommunications fraud, a third-degree felony. His final pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 22 in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
The vehicle, phones, and documents were collected as evidence.
The woman later sold the 80 bars back to Buckeye Gold, recovering the $400,000 before it could be surrendered.
Murchland said Westerville police have made arrests in similar cases, including one the previous year involving a courier sent to collect gold.
Other Westerville-area scams have been stopped by employees who recognized warning signs before sending money.
In 2025, UPS employee Austin Urbanski prevented an elderly woman from losing $19,100 after she entered his store to overnight what she described as a photo album to a relative in California.
Urbanski became suspicious because the woman was paying $184.43 to ship the package overnight, kept the call on mute, and photographed the box and shipping label. Before sending it, he examined the package and found cash hidden inside a magazine, according to the city.
He called the police, who determined the woman was being scammed. The city selected Urbanski for a Civilian Service Award, which recognizes private citizens or city employees who provide outstanding assistance to the community or police.
In another case in 2023, PostNet owner Kinnari Patel stopped an elderly woman from mailing $12,500 in cash to a scammer in California.
The woman had been told by someone posing as a police officer that she was under investigation and her bank accounts would be frozen. After she withdrew the money and arrived to ship it, Patel became suspicious, spoke directly with the caller, and refused to send the package.
The woman’s son later helped convince her that she was being scammed.
At Allen’s Coin Shop in Westerville, printed notices warning about precious-metals scams are displayed on the counter and at the entrance. The business was not involved in the recent woman’s purchase, but employees said they have encountered customers trying to wire large sums and quickly convert the money into gold.
The examples show how intervention by employees, relatives, or police can stop a scam even after a victim has withdrawn money or prepared it for shipment.
Murchland urged residents to contact police before sending money whenever a caller or email demands payment to resolve a warrant or legal problem.
“Nobody will ever call you and ask for money to settle a warrant,” she said. “That does not happen.”
She also urged victims not to let embarrassment keep them from seeking help.
“It’s not just the elderly,” Murchland said. “The scammers are very good at convincing people.”
Police are available around the clock to review suspicious calls or messages, she said.
“Trust your instincts,” Murchland said. “If it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not.”
Editor’s Note: The Westerville Police Department has a webpage explaining how to recognize a scam and what to do when you do. A simple rule is that your lawyer is the only person who will tell you not to talk to anyone about a phone call or your actions. Tell someone.
Because this post is public, you’re encouraged to share it on social media.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
Reader funding, including subscribers, protects editorial independence, so coverage is guided by journalists rather than owners or corporate profit goals. It also reduces pressure to chase clicks, letting the newsroom focus on stories worth readers’ time. And it helps keep the site accessible to everyone, including people who can’t pay or live in places where a free press is under threat.
Explore more hyper-local reporting by subscribing to The Hilliard Beacon, Civic Capacity, Marysville Matters, The Ohio Roundtable, Shelby News Reporter, This Week in Toledo, and Into the Morning by Krista Steele.
