Thousand Oaks City Watch Alert - 5/1/09

Here is the latest "City Watch" alert from Deputy Jim DeSoto of the Thousand Oaks Police Department. If you are interested in receiving these updates directly from him via email, click here for more information.

Crime Fighters,

The economy is still in neutral but the crooks are in overdrive and taking advantage of the situation. The Canadian Lotto Scam is in full force and is targeting our senior citizens. The bogus checks that are sent via the mail have an authentic appearance and they use fabricated company names and logos to enhance the seemingly legitimacy, although phony, of the check. The crooks send the fake check and tell the victim that they also won a considerable amount of additional money. All the victim has to do is cash the check and send back a portion of that money in order to receive the full amount of the alleged lottery prize that the victim never entered. Of course later, the check is deemed a fake and the victim is liable to the bank for the fake check.

In Thousand Oaks, a person fell victim to this type of crime under the deception of being a winner in the Publisher Clearing House Sweepstakes. The victim cashed checks and sent the money ($5,000) as insurance through a Money Gram to the crooks. The letter looked official and would have tricked others. Please be careful and guard your money.

Your detectives work diligently in trying to arrest the crooks that are responsible for the crimes in our city. Your detectives recently solved a forced entry residential burglary. About $11,000 in property was taken in money, electronics, and valuable collections. An arrest was made and the property was recovered. It is a very satisfying feeling to the investigators whenever they can put the bad guy in jail and recover the stolen property. Most residential burglaries occur during the day so please help your neighbors by looking out for one another.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department has a COPPS unit, Community Orientated Policing and Problem Solving, which specializes in residential neighborhood problems and quality of life issues. The COPPS unit has implemented a mediation program to help resolve neighborhood disputes. Appropriate circumstances for mediation can include but not limited to animal/pet issues, property line disputes, repeated loud music complaints, parent-teen problems, and parking issues. The mediation program is not intended to solve criminal acts, domestic disputes, landlord-tenant disputes or small claims court issues. The mediators are all volunteers. If you would like further information or know someone who can benefit from the mediation program, please call Jennifer Noffke at 805-947-9002 or e-mail her at toaks.mediation@ventura.org. The service is free and confidential.

Enjoy your weekend and continue keeping the bad guys on check,

Jim (DeSoto)