Victim Sends Wire Transfer After Receiving Threatening Call at South Pas Business

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

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SOUTH PASADENA - A threatening phone call originating in Mexico was made to a small business December 28 and a demand for money to be transferred via Western Union was completed, South Pasadena Police said.

The call was placed to the business in the 400 block of Fair Oaks Avenue at 4:30 p.m.

“The caller told the employee to remove money from the store’s cash register and leave the building or she would be harmed. The employee complied, activating the robbery alarm system as she left the business,” according to the South Pasadena Police Department.

In fear of her life and the lives of her coworkers, the victim stayed on the phone with the unidentified male caller, South Pasadena Police said.

After arriving to the business to investigate the robbery alarm, officers found the victim un harmed at another business.

The money was transferred to Mexico where the call originated, South Pasadena Police said.

“The South Pasadena Police Department encourages the community to be aware of these types of telephone scam,” South Pasadena Police said.

Anyone with information ton this incident, or who may have been a victim of a crime with similar circumstances is urged to call the South Pasadena Detective Bureau at 626-403-7297. 

Police encourage residents to sign up for the Federal Trade Commission’s scam alerts at ftc.gov/scams.