Scam stings Bangor business Owner shipped $9,100 worth of goods, but credit cards no good

A Bangor businessman reported to local police Thursday that his company was the victim of an international scam that is under investigation by federal authorities in this country.

The owner of Automated Business Concepts had contacted authorities in Texas and at the federal level to learn that the alleged scam operation was based in the United Kingdom.

Ben Brown, who owns and operates Automated Business Concepts, told Bangor police that a man identifying himself as Eric Williams from London, England, ordered 260 Hewlett Packard inkjet cartridges, valued at $9,100 and paid for them with two Visa cards. The payments were split between the two cards as apparently the full payment exceeded the limit of the first card, Brown told Bangor Police Officer Tim Cotton.

Cautious, Brown verified that there were sufficient funds in the credit card accounts and shipped the ink cartridges to the Houston, Texas, address Williams had requested.

Shortly after shipping the cartridges, Brown learned the credit cards were no good, he told Cotton. Williams called ABC and tried to get the bank routing number for the company’s account, reportedly so he could wire the necessary funds to cover the purchases. Williams also ordered another $42,000 in ink cartridges. But Brown was suspicious and refused to give the London man the routing numbers and didn’t fill the second order, according to the report.

Brown told Cotton that he learned from the New England Bankcard Association that what he experienced was part of an ongoing fraud in which bogus orders are placed using Visa cards. Knowing that large sums of money are earmarked for a specific account, the perpetrators then try to get the access numbers to the account and then raid it.

An Old Town man burned a chair in a back yard Sunday, attracting the attention of his neighbor and then police officers and firefighters.

The South Main Street man admitted to not having a permit for the fire and also acknowledged accelerating the fire by spraying it with a foam usually reserved for cleaning engines and carburetors, reported Old Town Police Officer Bobbie Pelletier.

The officer explained to Nicholas Walters, 19, the dangers of starting a fire during such dry conditions, although Walters claimed that it wouldn’t be a problem as he was burning it in a wet marsh area.

Pelletier pointed out that the marsh area apparently had dried up and that the grass in the area was brown and dead. Walters was summoned for burning without a permit.

Fire danger conditions were high Thursday, according to a sign posted outside the Old Town Fire Department.

Warned to quiet down, an Old Town man yelled one too many times Tuesday night and was arrested by police and charged with disorderly conduct.

Patrick J. Moore, 33, told Sgt. Michael Hashey that he was yelling because he was moving out of the apartment soon. Maybe none too soon for a neighbor at the Penobscot River House apartments who had called police shortly before 10 p.m. to report that there was yelling and other sounds coming from the apartment above her.

Hashey investigated and reported that loud music and loud voices could be heard coming from inside the apartment and that it took some time for anyone to come to the door. Moore opened the door, and after Hashey determined that there were no problems between Moore and the woman with him inside, the sergeant gave Moore a warning to keep noise levels down, both the music and the voices.

Hashey went next door and heard the yelling resume. It continued as Hashey approached Moore’s door. Asked why he was yelling, Moore explained that he was just yelling because he was moving out. He then was arrested and taken to the Penobscot County Jail.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli