This was the message from The Universe for the day.
"The Universe<theuniverse@tut.com>
5/26/2021 3:30 AM
Every day, Faustina, you move mountains, touch lives, and perform miracles.
Every day you're a success, a hero, an example.
And every day you change the world.
Just some stuff to think about next time you doubt yourself.
You rock,
The Universe
For the better. I meant to add "for the better," Faustina, after "change the world." "
------ ----- -----
Sounds like a promising day, right?
But it was a day from hell, with me driving around for more than six hours in my 20-year-old car, with no air conditioning, on a day with a high in the mid-90's, following orders from Agent Kenneth Johnson, under threat of arrest for money laundering, drug trafficking, and other charges in El Paso, Texas.
I am now out $3770.00.
I know it could have been worse...
but this is pretty damned bad.
I'm trying to look at this in a more positive light.
How so?
Such as looking at part of the loss being the stimulus money from the federal government during this pandemic.
That was "free money" that I had set aside toward possibly a newer car.
There's also the money my brother Smitty had given me to pay off the charges on my credit card for Ronnie's cremation.
I only wish I'd taken care of paying the card off this morning, as I'd intended.
Instead, I answered a call from a 912 number (912-683-3315) that I didn't recognize, thinking it might belong to a medical provider here in town and pertain to the diagnostic mammogram scheduled for Thursday morning.
That was at 10:58 AM.
I should have hung up the moment I realized it was not from a medical source.
But the caller announced himself as Officer Thomas Jefferson, giving badge number 44798, launching into questions about any travel to Texas, saying that my name and social security number had been used to rent a black Toyota Corolla found abandoned with blood stains in El Paso, a vehicle linked to an investigation into drugs and tainted money, and that a warrant had been issued to arrest me in association with that evil.
After he had me write down his badge number, name, and the case identification (DMC 0334) he transferred me to Officer Robert West, who had me record his name and badge (757198) as well as asking me about the banks I used and amount of money in those accounts.
He then transferred me to Agent Kenneth Johnson, Federal Badge 7905, Employee 202111, who then sent me documentation by email that looked legit, including a copy of the warrant with my name on it.
All of that was by 12:36 PM.
I had been on the phone, continuously, the entire time.
I was told by Agent Kenneth Johnson that the call was being recorded and would be used by the court in Dallas as proof of my cooperation with their investigation.
I was told by Agent Kenneth Johnson that any lapse in the call would be grounds for immediate arrest and that the Savannah Police already had the warrant and would act at once under his directive.
After allowing me to get dressed and have breakfast, Agent Kenneth Johnson directed me to drive to my bank and withdraw funds from my checking and savings account - for "safekeeping", he claimed - leaving some funds still in those accounts to keep them open.
I had to leave my phone in my dress pocket, connected to his call the entire time, so he could hear me make the transactions.
In all, I withdrew $3793.00 from those two accounts.
He then had me drive to the Walmart Supercenter and place a total of $2000.00 on four Walmart Money Cards, again with my phone open and partly hanging out of my dress pocket the entire time.
The time of that purchase, which included the $4.00 charge for the cards and the cost of a phone charger for my car, was 2:37 PM.
When I returned to the car, he had me read the account numbers, expiration dates, and codes from the four cards. He then had me take photos of the front and back of each card and text those to him, all so he could report those to the Dallas court for verification that those were my funds.
The next destination was the Target across the street and at Savannah Mall, to purchase four Target gift cards, in various denominations, for a total of $1770. Again, he was connected via phone the whole time, listening to the transactions in the Target store.
By the time that was done, it was 3:48 PM.
I bought a hotdog and bottled water, then returned to my car.
Once there, he directed me to read the card numbers and access numbers to him, followed by again taking photos of the cards and texting the images to him. That process took quite a while and, about an hour later, the call got dropped.
Almost immediately, at 4:42 PM, my phone rang and it was Officer Christopher Evans with the Savannah Police Department (ph 912-351-3400), telling me he had a warrant for my arrest. I told him I was cooperating with Agent Kenneth Johnson, but since I had left the paper with his ID # at home, Officer Evans said that I needed to have Agent Johnson fax verification to him "within 10 minutes" or he would arrest me.
I was terrified at that point. I called Agent Johnson back at 4:48 PM, in tears, pleading with him to send the fax to Officer Evans. That's when I heard the speech impediment in Agent Johnson's British voice, an impediment like that of Barry Kripke on "The Big Bang Theory". That similarity didn't stop my tears, nor my utter exhaustion with being in the heat all day.
He told me we just had a little more to do today, that I needed to stop "cwying" and be strong, that he had been working hard on my case all day to safeguard my money and clear my name and I needed to do just a little more.
By the time he finished his talk, it was almost 5:30 PM and I'd been dealing with Agent Johnson, and the heat of the day, for almost six hours.
After consultation with someone on his end, he had me return to my bank, to withdraw the funds from my Trust savings account. I had assured him that money was already safe, as that account was not linked to my social security number but had its own federal ID. I also told him the bank would be closed already. He chose to not listen to me. Fortunately for me, the bank had closed at 5 PM, so I was unable to draw cash out.
By this time, it was almost 6 PM.
After another consult on his end, he directed me to go to the CVS on Montgomery Cross Road. I was to purchase four Vanilla money cards, using my bank debit card, and put $500.00 on each card. I tried to tell him that would not work, as my debit card is not linked to my Trust account.
He did not listen.
Fortunately, I was correct and the purchase failed.
At that point, he told me we were done for the day, to keep the call connected until I reached home, and that is what I did.
By the time he released me and hung up, it was 7:26 PM.
I was utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, from the ordeal.
After I had dinner and lots of water, a nagging thought came to me.
Was all of that real?
I searched his phone number - 915-615-8418 - and it came up as a valid El Paso number.
Okay.
I searched the phone number for Officer Evans - 912-351-3400 - and it was real, too, for the Savannah Police Department, as I further verified by calling it.
Nerves and fears allayed, I tried searching out the badge numbers.
That didn't work at all.
A little while later, I thought to check the balance on one of the Target cards.
The balance was $0.00.
The funds had been used in total at the Durham Target store.
In a panic, I checked the other cards; their funds were completely gone, too.
Then I found the DEA website with
the alert about a scam that's been perpetrated since March of this year.
I had been the victim of fraud, by the same scenario described on the DEA website.
Exactly, as if "Agent Johnson" had used a tried-and-true script.
I called the FBI office in Atlanta, to report the threats of arrest made against me; when I explained what had happened, the officer told me to block Johnson's phone number, to not respond to any phone calls from strangers, and to report the fraud at
the Internet Complaint Center website.
I started to do that, but I am exhausted and cannot stop crying.
Tomorrow, I have a diagnostic mammogram to begin the process of finding out the problem with my right breast, which has had a discharge for three months now.
I also have an appointment for the sinus infection raging for over a week now.
My health will have to take precedence right now.
