Mail fraud scam
hits Lawncrest

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

For a minute, Ken Hyers thought he’d hit the jackpot last week.
Upon opening his mail one day, he found a letter from a company called United Services Inc. saying he’d won $250,000 in a special Swiss lottery.
But before he could claim his check, Hyers, who heads the Lawncrest Town Watch, was to deposit a $4,000 check enclosed in the letter into an account to cover the taxes on his winnings. Hyers was asked to then send funds from his bank account to the company via a money order method called Moneygram within 24 hours, or his fortune would be lost forever.
Hyers called up the bank at which he was asked to deposit the $4,000 and found that no such account existed for United Services Inc. Because the letter had been addressed with a label and not handwritten, Hyers suspected that scammers were targeting his neighborhood specifically. So, he called police.
"My fear is that they’re doing this by ZIP code," Hyers said last week during a meeting of the 2nd Police District Advisory Council. "Most legitimate companies will send it with an embossed company return address."
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), letters like the one Hyers received are considered mail fraud. A New York community experienced a similar scam in May, after a congressman there received a lottery letter. A woman in the area lost more than $2,000 in the scam.
Mark Mroz, community relations officer for the 2nd district, said the letter has been turned over to the local Federal Bureau of Investigation office. A spokeswoman did not return calls for comment.
Mroz urged any residents who receive similar letters to not be fooled by their promises of fortune and instead call the police. Recipients should keep the envelope, letter and fake check.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is," he said.
Consumers can also file a complaint through the state attorney general’s office at 800-441-2555, or at www.attorneygeneral.gov
In other news from the Sept. 11 meeting:
• Mroz received honors from several local officials for saving a toddler’s life in July. Mroz administered CPR to the child, who had reportedly stopped breathing due to a seizure, while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
The officer was presented with citations from City Councilmen Jack Kelly (R-at-large) and Daniel Savage (D-7th dist.), state Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-2nd dist.), and state Rep. John Sabatina (D-174th dist.). The 2nd PDAC board presented Mroz with a framed copy of an article written about his heroism.
• The group presented Officer of the Month awards for April and June.
Officers Michael Kelly and Anthony Acquaviva received the April award for nabbing two suspects charged with several gunpoint robberies outside Jardel Recreation Center. Officers Bob Livewell and Ken Smith received the June award for arresting two suspects charged with several gunpoint and attempted robberies.
• The group announced that its June 23 Bike Race and Community Day, held in the Roosevelt Mall parking lot, brought out a good crowd.
The annual event included information tables and entertainment. The group fingerprinted 150 children and S.A.V.E. Auto VIN-etched about 200 cars.
The PDAC commended Fox Chase Town Watch and Three-Street Block Watch for receiving awards at the annual Operation Town Watch Integrated Services conference in June.
• The PDAC needs volunteers to help with fingerprinting at the Jeanes Hospital Health Fair on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Helpers are also needed to coordinate the police holiday dinner, to be held in December. Other health fairs are taking place in the coming weeks.
Health Center #10, at 2230 Cottman Ave., will host a fair on Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m. A health fair sponsored by Tartaglione will be held at Excel Academy, 6600 Bustleton Ave., on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m.
• Assistant District Attorney Andrew Carobus, who replaced Stefanie Cella as the Northeast liaison for the Public Nuisance Task Force, reported that forfeiture petitions are pending on eight houses in the district. Five are drug stash houses that are slated to be full-sealed.
Carobus said the task force is trying to crack down on absentee landlords who rent to tenants that use the residences to store or sell drugs.
"We’re working with these owners to get the tenants out," he said. ••
The 2nd Police District Advisory Council next meets on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m., at the Glading Memorial Presbyterian Church, Cheltenham and Loretto avenues.
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com