Belmont Police Log, Feb. 27 to March 5: Medicare, Facebook Marketplace and Social Security scams

The following are excerpts from the Belmont Police log as made available by the Belmont Police Department. The log is public and available for review. All persons are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

Friday, Feb. 27

11:08 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported a Medicare scam. She received a phone call from someone claiming to be with Medicare, asking if she received her Medicare identification cards. She said she did not and the caller then asked to confirm her information including full name and home address. The caller then asked for her social security number, which she provided. When the call ended, she called the Medicare number she had on file to ask if new cards were being sent out. The representative confirmed the call was most likely a scam because no new cards were sent out. She notified the Social Security Administration, credit card companies and financial institutions.

2:15 p.m.: A Belmont woman called a number she thought was the Social Security office to discuss a billing issue. The number she called was 1-888-524-9340. A male with an Indian accent answered and asked for her name, address, date of birth and social security number, which she provided. She told him about the billing issue. He told her she would be refunded, but she had to provide him with her debit card information. This is when she became suspicious and hung up without providing the debit card information. After hanging up, she realized she dialed the wrong number. The correct number for the Social Security office in Cambridge is 1-888-527-9340. She was advised to contact the correct Social Security office to let them know what happened.

4:34 p.m.: A Belmont man arranged to buy Apple Air Pods Max headphones from Facebook Marketplace for $150. There was no profile attached to the seller or phone number to contact the individual. He communicated with the seller through Facebook messenger. The seller, who appeared to be around 20 years old, arrived at Belmont Hill School parking lot in a vehicle with an older male and female inside. He handed the individual $150 cash. In return, he received the Apple Air pods Max in a white box. He later realized they were knock-offs. The product was made of plastic instead of aluminum and some of the buttons did not work. When he reached back out to the seller on Facebook messenger to ask for a refund, the seller told him he had to pick up his brother in Salem. He will reach out again to ask for a refund.

Monday, March 2

2:15 p.m.: A black Gary Fisher Tyro bicycle was found on the corner of Emerson Street and Louise Road.

4:26 p.m.: A man reported his black BMW was struck by an unknown vehicle while parked in the Star Market parking lot between 6:30 and 7 p.m. There was damage to the left rear wheel well. The Star Market manager will provide the surveillance footage during that time.

Tuesday, March 3

11:12 a.m.: An Acorn Park Drive resident reported a missing package containing a 60 GM RAM part to increase memory for her computer server. The package was scheduled to be delivered on Feb. 25. She received a confirmation from USPS saying it was delivered at 12:04 p.m. on Feb. 25. As of today, she has not been able to find her package. She has contacted USPS who confirmed the package was delivered. It is unclear if it was delivered to the correct building mailbox. The package may have been picked up by mistake by another resident. IT has happened in the past. There are no surveillance cameras in the mailbox area. She contacted Amazon who informed her they couldn’t’ help her until she spoke with the police and generated a report.

3:44 p.m.: A Belmont woman said she lost her beige wallet containing her driver’s license, two credit cards and an Apple air tag. The air tag location shows it is in the area of 300 Pleasant St. She searched the area with negative results. The last location the air tag gave was Billerica on March 3 at 9:24 a.m. She canceled her credit cards. She was advised to contact the Billerica Police in regard to the latest location given on the air tag.

5:12 p.m.: There was a two-car accident in the area of 350 Prospect St. between a 2022 Volkswagen and a 2023 Chrysler. One of the operators is pregnant. She said she was traveling eastbound on Prospect Street when she lost control of the car due to snowy road conditions causing her to crash into the vehicle in the opposing lane. The other vehicle operator said she was traveling westbound on Prospect Street when the other vehicle swerved into her lane and crashed into her. The pregnant operator was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital. The other operator said she did not need medical attention.

Wednesday, March 4

12:00 p.m.: A Council on Aging bus driver traveling on Thomas Street observed a young Asian male operating a bicycle in front of his bus, performing wheelies in the roadway. After he beeped his horn at the male, he got off his bicycle and approached him while yelling, “I hate white people.” He struck the bus with his hand and made aggressive gestures consistent with attempting to initiate a fight. He stepped off the bus to continue the verbal dispute. The male party observed a bystander in the area and subsequently retreated to his bicycle before leaving the area. The argument did not become physical.

2:24 p.m.: A Belmont woman reported that she went to use her phone this morning and the number was deactivated. She called Comcast on a different phone to inform them of the issue and was told the phone number was transferred to T-Mobile. Comcast gave her a new temporary phone number. She believes this could have happened due to suspicious activity that occurred while she was on the phone with a Geico agent after she got into a car accident. She spoke with an agent who told her she needed to provide a social security number along with her phone number because she did not have her Geico card on her. She provided her social security number. The agent asked for a credit card number to pay a fee of $30, which she also provided. The agent then told her the card wouldn’t work and asked for a different card number. She became suspicious and did not provide the second card. The agent then provided her with a claim number.

Thursday, March 5

10:59 a.m.: A Belmont resident said he parked his vehicle on Clark Street at Kilburn Road at approximately 10:15 a.m. He was sitting in this vehicle in the eastbound lane. He was startled at the sound of his driver’s side mirror being struck by a white transit van. The transit van was traveling in the same direction as his vehicle was parked, so the passenger side mirror of the van struck the driver’s side mirror of his vehicle. The operator of the van did not stop, so he may not have realized what happened. He followed the van onto Common Street until the van drove into Watertown. He took pictures of the van and the damage. The plate on the van was registered to Enterprise FM Trust, which leased the vehicle to Work Community Independence, Inc.

Belmont Police responded to three mental health and five domestic calls between Feb. 24 and March 5.