North Carolina Con Artist Arrested For Impersonating Pastor, Stealing Money In Elaborate Scam
A North Carolina man has recently been arrested for allegedly posing as a pastor to con people out of money.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation announced this week that it had arrested 33-year-old Justin DeWayne Moore of Greenwood, South Carolina, saying he collaborated with two family members to con victims out of money by posing as a pastor and a State Bureau of Investigation [SBI] agent.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said that more arrests may take place in the upcoming weeks. Moore was arrested based on warrants for impersonating a police officer and extortion, and he is to be extradited to Mecklenburg County in North Carolina.
"Con artists and criminals will pretend to be anyone, including a pastor or an SBI agent, to try to trick you and steal your money," Cooper said in a statement, according to WYFF Greenville. "True law enforcement officers won't call you and demand that you pay money or face arrest, and anyone who says otherwise is breaking the law."
According to WYFF Greenville, the scam began on social media, where victims would be contacted by a female and then begin to exchange messages with her. The woman would then begin sending nude photos to the victim.
Then, the victims would receive a phone call from a man claiming to be a pastor and the woman's father, saying that when he discovered his underaged daughter was sending nude photos on the internet, she threw her phone through a window. The fake pastor then asked the victims to pay for a new phone and the window, threatening to report them to the authorities if they did not comply.
The victims were also contacted by another male pretending to be an SBI agent, who said they needed to pay a certain amount of money or be arrested. Real SBI detectives learned of the scam because the con artists used the name Tony Underwood, an actual SBI agent, and the victims began leaving messages on the real agent's work voicemail, asking how to deliver the money to him.
"Remember, people aren't always who they claim to be online or on the phone," Cooper added in a statement, according to WRAL-TV. "Be very skeptical if someone you don't really know contacts you and demands money, no matter who they claim to be."
It remains unclear how much money was stolen from the victims as a result of this recent scam.
