Suspect arrested on suspicion of Henderson phone spoofing fraud charges

Henderson police have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of financial fraud.

Emmanuel Almonor faces the possibility of multiple charges after his arrest by the Henderson Police Department’s financial crimes unit.

Police allege Almonor was involved in phone number spoofing, according to a news release. The technique involves deliberately falsifying the caller ID so that it appears the incoming call is coming from a person or business you may already know or trust.

The suspect contacted multiple victims on Wednesday and Thursday via a spoofed phone number from their respective financial institution claiming their debit card had been used fraudulently or compromised and they needed to send them a new debit card, the release said.

Almonor would then advise the victim that a bank employee would come to their residence to take possession of their debit card for proper destruction, police said.

Within a very short period, a subject would be at the victim’s front door claiming to be a bank employee. The victim would then provide the suspect with their debit card for destruction, but the suspect would instead immediately incur thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges and money transfers, according to the release.

During these phone encounters, the suspect appears to have provided victims with their personal identifying information, account numbers, and PIN information, making the contact appear legitimate, police said.

Almonor was taken into custody on Thursday and was booked into the Henderson Detention Center on suspicion of the following charges:

— 1 count of obtaining or using another person’s personal ID, causing financial loss of $3,000 or more

— 1 count of theft between $5,000 and $25,000.

— 1 count of falsely obtaining money, property or labor of $5,000 and $25,000.

— 1 count of attempting to falsely obtain money, property or labor of between $5,000 and $25,000

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Anyone who may have information in this case or may have fallen victim to this scam is urged to call the Henderson Police Department at 702-267-4911, 3-1-1, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or visit Crime Stoppers website. Tips directly leading to a felony arrest, or an indictment processed through Crime Stoppers may result in a cash reward.

The Metropolitan Police Department has said that several similar incidents have been reported among Summerlin residents.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.