MADISON - A Sacramento, Calif., man who defrauded $16,200 from four Amcore Banks in 2008, including the New Glarus branch, probably was part of a larger group of credit card scammers, a federal prosecutor said.
"We're seeing a large influx of this type of a scam nationwide. This individual is probably connected to a larger group," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz.
Bruce Eric Williams, 46, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 14 months in prison in connection with obtaining cash advances on a credit card by phoning another person who helped convince tellers to authorize the advance.
The scam works because tellers wrongly believes they are talking to a credit card company representative dialed by the suspect, Jarosz said. In Williams' case, he initially was denied the cash advance because of a problem with his card. He then dialed an 800 number listed on the back of the card and gets into an argument with the person posing as a credit card company rep. Williams expressed frustration with the person he had called, and handed the phone to the teller who was taken in by the little drama they have just witnessed.
"These people are very impressive ... they must be very convincing," said a person close to the case who didn't want to be identified.
Williams visited Amcore branches in Madison, New Glarus and Baraboo between Aug. 4 and Aug. 6, 2008, getting $4,000 advances each time. Sauk County authorities charged Williams last year with theft and extradited him from California, thinking it was an isolated case, Jarosz said. Meanwhile, federal authorities were investigating Williams after they indicted two Sacramento women for defrauding four southern Wisconsin banks out of $30,000 in 2007.
Learning Williams was in the Sauk County Jail, federal authorities obtained a bank fraud indictment against him in federal court to which Williams pled guilty in June.
The scam is known to Wisconsin banks which can defeat it when procedures are followed, said Eric Skrum, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Bankers Association.
"Typically, scammers will try to target inexperienced tellers and sometimes it occurs in financial institutions with a branch in a grocery store. There, the scammer thinks he can make more of a scene and be more aggressive in making his claim," Skrum said.
The "drama" of the situation can more easily rattle a new teller and trick them into following the instructions they're given over the phone from the bogus rep, Skrum said.
Williams hasn't repaid any of the bank's funds to date, but while on five years' supervised release, Jarosz anticipated that Williams is likely to make restitution which includes a $1,589 extradition reimbursement to Sauk County.
"We're seeing a large influx of this type of a scam nationwide. This individual is probably connected to a larger group," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz.
Bruce Eric Williams, 46, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 14 months in prison in connection with obtaining cash advances on a credit card by phoning another person who helped convince tellers to authorize the advance.
The scam works because tellers wrongly believes they are talking to a credit card company representative dialed by the suspect, Jarosz said. In Williams' case, he initially was denied the cash advance because of a problem with his card. He then dialed an 800 number listed on the back of the card and gets into an argument with the person posing as a credit card company rep. Williams expressed frustration with the person he had called, and handed the phone to the teller who was taken in by the little drama they have just witnessed.
"These people are very impressive ... they must be very convincing," said a person close to the case who didn't want to be identified.
Williams visited Amcore branches in Madison, New Glarus and Baraboo between Aug. 4 and Aug. 6, 2008, getting $4,000 advances each time. Sauk County authorities charged Williams last year with theft and extradited him from California, thinking it was an isolated case, Jarosz said. Meanwhile, federal authorities were investigating Williams after they indicted two Sacramento women for defrauding four southern Wisconsin banks out of $30,000 in 2007.
Learning Williams was in the Sauk County Jail, federal authorities obtained a bank fraud indictment against him in federal court to which Williams pled guilty in June.
The scam is known to Wisconsin banks which can defeat it when procedures are followed, said Eric Skrum, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Bankers Association.
"Typically, scammers will try to target inexperienced tellers and sometimes it occurs in financial institutions with a branch in a grocery store. There, the scammer thinks he can make more of a scene and be more aggressive in making his claim," Skrum said.
The "drama" of the situation can more easily rattle a new teller and trick them into following the instructions they're given over the phone from the bogus rep, Skrum said.
Williams hasn't repaid any of the bank's funds to date, but while on five years' supervised release, Jarosz anticipated that Williams is likely to make restitution which includes a $1,589 extradition reimbursement to Sauk County.