Pineville Police Warn Local Businesses About Scammers Posing As Company Representative

PINEVILLE, Louisiana (KALB) – The Pineville Police Department made an arrest on Tuesday in our next featured case as part of our partnership with Crime Stoppers. But, they say the message is still important, especially if you are a local business.

Police said the suspect was pretending to be a representative of national chains and ripped off Cenla’s businesses with proceeds and money. They want you to be alert if you spot something similar.

Police said the scam started like this – a man walks into a chain store, iPad in hand, a fake invoice, saying he works for somewhere like Coca-Cola, Red Bull or even a company. cigarettes.

Police said it happened exactly like that on November 3. They believe Micah Collins, 29, of Alexandria, scammed Lowe’s and Walgreens in Kingsville.

“So he comes in and introduces himself as a salesperson,” said Deputy Chief Darrell Basco of the Pineville Police Department. “(He) convinces employees to take expired merchandise out of the store or he has to do some type of warranty swap with some type of merchandise from the store. Load them up and get out.

Basco said that in the case of Walgreens, Collins convinced an employee that he needed to check the expiration dates on cigarettes.

“He checks the cigarettes for expiration, takes out the expired cigarettes, tells the employee he’ll get store credit and walks away,” Basco said.

Basco said there are some things you can do to avoid falling victim.

“Make sure they have the proper documents from the company they claim to represent,” he said. “Show them some ID, show them some type of corporate ID. Do everything you can to make sure that person is a representative of this franchise.

Basco also said that due diligence can ultimately save a business. He said that in the case of Walgreens, the estimated loss is over $ 1,000.

Pineville Police told us Collins was arrested for third-offense theft and burglary. The jail reservation information reflects a $ 25,000 deposit. He is currently behind bars.

Meanwhile, Pineville Police have created a checklist to distribute to local businesses with some easy steps they can follow so they don’t fall victim to it.

If you have any information on this or other similar cases, you can contact the Pineville Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 443-STOP.

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