A Tangipahoa Parish resident is getting her $20,000 back after officials intercepted a package of cash she had mailed to New York following a scam phone call earlier in the week. The package, seized in Hammond before it could reach its destination, was carrying the full $20,000 in cash the resident had sent after a caller convinced her something was wrong with her PayPal account.
According to WBRZ, the caller claimed to be from PayPal and told the resident her account had a problem, then instructed her to mail cash to an address in New York State. She complied, mailing $20,000 in cash earlier in the week before authorities stepped in. Law enforcement is now returning the full amount to her, per the same report.
The interception happened because the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office worked with law enforcement in New York to track and stop the package before it was delivered, WBRZ reported. New York law enforcement is now working to catch the scammers responsible, though the station's report does not say whether anyone has been identified or arrested.
A Scam Pattern Showing Up Across State Lines
The Hammond case closely mirrors incidents reported far from Louisiana. In Saratoga County, New York, investigators intervened after an elderly woman attempted to ship $20,000 hidden inside books to an address in California, according to cbs6albany.com. That outlet noted PayPal was not suspected of any involvement in that particular scheme, a distinction worth keeping in mind since scammers frequently invoke well-known companies without those companies' knowledge.
Authorities in that same region said joint efforts have intercepted and returned more than $433,000 in stolen scam funds to two Saratoga County residents, cbs6albany.com reported. In a separate upstate New York case, investigators working with UPS located a victim's package in Yonkers before it was delivered and recovered it, with State Police returning the funds this past spring, according to syracuse.com.
Other Louisiana Residents Have Not Been So Lucky
Not every Tangipahoa Parish scam case ends with the money coming back. WBRZ previously reported that resident Virginia Wilson mailed a $33,800 certified check overnight to an address in North Carolina after a scam that began with a text message about a bogus $3,000 Xbox and tablet charge. That money was not intercepted.
Postal workers elsewhere have described catching similar schemes in progress. A postal store manager in a separate report from CBS Pittsburgh said she has found cash hidden inside packages, including about $16,000 and a debit card concealed in a coffee pot. Buffalo Township police in that same report warned residents about scammers pressuring victims to send bulk cash or gift cards through local postal offices.
Scammers Have Targeted Tangipahoa Parish Before
Hammond's case is not an isolated incident for the parish. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office previously warned relatives of inmates about scammers impersonating law enforcement, with calls claiming to be from the Tangipahoa Parish Jail and demanding Cash App, Venmo, or Zelle payments to release an inmate for drug treatment assistance, per WBRZ.
In another local scheme, reported by WDSU, victims were told their bank accounts and Social Security benefits were frozen and could only be released in exchange for gold. Authorities in that case said they took a suspect into custody before he could take more than $800,000 in gold from a victim.
The Federal Trade Commission advises anyone who has been scammed to contact their bank or credit union immediately and ask it to reverse the payment and refund the money, according to guidance from the Federal Trade Commission. For the Hammond resident, the quick work by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office and New York law enforcement meant the $20,000 never had to be chased down after the fact.
