By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Florida man is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from several Arizonans as part of an elaborate cross-country scheme.
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Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced Wednesday that Andre Hart, 22, was indicted on four counts of fraudulent schemes and three counts of theft.
Officials say in July, three incidents occurred where the victims were called by someone pretending to be from their bank. Police say Hart convinced them to withdraw large amounts of cash and hand it over to an “undercover investigator.”
Then rideshare drivers, who were unaware of the scheme, were used to pick up and deliver the cash each time. Hart reportedly traveled from Miami, where he lives, to Phoenix to collect the “packages” from the rideshare drivers, which instead were the cash deliveries.
“Unfortunately, (the schemes) evolve every single day,” says AARP Arizona Fraud Watch Network Lead Specialist Dawn Alexander. “It becomes harder for us then to protect ourselves and those that we love from these people who take advantage of all these tools that are out there.”
Hart was arrested after returning to Phoenix for the third time and attempting the same trick. Glendale Police arrested Hart as they saw him receive one of the “packages.” As authorities were taking him into custody, officials say another Uber driver showed up to deliver another package.
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The county attorney’s office says over $65,000 was stolen from the victims.
The AARP runs the Fraud Watch Network, where volunteers, who are trained to spot scams and fight fraud, can answer calls.
The Fraud Watch Network is free and available for anybody to use; just call 877-908-3360.
“The thing that we tell people is to not trust anything that comes into you. If it’s a phone number that you don’t know, don’t answer it. If it’s a phone number that’s coming in because it’s spoofing your bank or Medicare or credit card company, if they start asking you questions that you feel they should know the information to, or you get that kind of feeling that something’s not right, hang up,” said Alexander.
Hart is being held on a cash-only $100,000 bond.
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