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| Member |
Is anyone familiar with this scam? I presume the thieves use a device to intercept cell phones and then send the phony tow truck out. I have also never heard of the charge felony tower solicitation. Here is the article and the link: CHICAGO — Two men have been charged in what Chicago police are describing as a predatory towing operation. Angel Camacho, 26, and Jon Twist, 30, are charged with felony tower solicitation. Both men appeared in bond court Saturday and were released on their own recognizance. A tractor truck became wedged under a viaduct near Racine Avenue and Pershing Road about 6:15 a.m. Friday, according to the Chicago Police Department. The trucker contacted his dispatch center to arrange a tow. But Twist and Camacho showed up first, Cook County prosecutors said. The men claimed they were there to tow the truck on behalf of the city, and even wore clothing with the official Chicago seal. When the real tow truck arrived, prosecutors said, an argument ensued and someone called police. In recent weeks, #ChicagoPolice have uncovered a predatory towing operation which we believe may be orchestrated by gangs. Tow trucks appear unsolicited at scenes & essentially take cars hostage & later extort owners. In yesterdays case, men were impersonating city employees. The men were arrested and subsequently charged. Twist faces an additional charge of possession of a police scanner. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the incident was part of a predatory towing operation that may be orchestrated by gangs. The scammers will show up unsolicited with a tow truck and then extort owners to get their vehicles back. If you’re involved in an accident, police said, tow trucks should never just appear. Authorized city tow services should be able to provide documentation. Drivers can also verify credentials by calling police or 311. LINK: https://wgntv.com/2019/04/06/2...edatory-towing-scam/ | ||
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| Member |
My guess is they are using an "unblocked" scanner radio. Scanners sold in this country have the cell phone freqs blocked. But non blocked scanners can be bought in other countries. Simple matter to scan phone freqs. The official tow companies may all use one freq to dispatch and it would just be a matter of beating a legit tow to the scene. End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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Optimistic Cynic |
I don't think "felony tower solicitation" has anything to do with cell/radio towers, but with towing. | |||
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| Member |
Could it have been "Felony Towing Solicitation?" Spell check is weird. | |||
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אַרְיֵה |
Back around forty years ago, I lived in the Chicago area. We used to hit the music bars regularly. There was a really talented young writer / performer named Steve Goodman, who we always tried to catch when he was performing in the area. If you don't recognize the name, you might recognize some of the songs he wrote. Just about everybody has heard about the train called "The City Of New Orleans." Here's the one that he wrote about the towing scam in Chicago: Lincoln Park Pirates הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| Member |
Thanks Vtail. There was another scam when the Outfit got the keys to the Parking meters and regularly drained them of revenue. Good old Chicago. | |||
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| אַרְיֵה |
I think that they guy who did this went to prison, where he dug holes and ate fifty eggs. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| On the wrong side of the Mobius strip  |
I see what you did there. (See my sig line.) | |||
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| Member |
Many municipalities either have a coordinated channel/talkgroup on their radio system, or a separate facility that dispatches. Since they say that they have city employees, I suspect the former. If they are making the dispatches via voice, then anyone can hear it with a normal scanner. They probably want to move to dispatching via mobile data terminals (MDTs). | |||
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| Ignored facts still exist |
It would not be possible to listen to today's Cell Phone conversations with a scanner, whether blocked or unblocked. Back during the 80's to 90's, yes, but not with today's cell phone standards. (old AMPS cell standard vs modern 4G, LTE, etc.) The FBI (and maybe other fed agencies we could talk about) could have such devices, but it's not a scanner type radio that's used. It's something much more complex. BTW, those who legislated for "Cell blocked" scanners back in the 90's are the same set of idiots in congress who wrote the AWB during that time. They had no idea what they were doing, and are generally just plain stupid people, and out of their area of expertise. . | |||
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| אַרְיֵה |
 הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| Member |
They're either listening to radio dispatching of the tow trucks or of the cops. They've just gotta be gone before the other guy gets there. This isn't an uncommon game. | |||
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| Page late and a dollar short |
What's old is new again. Same scam was popular in Detroit during the late 60's. -------------------------------------—————— ————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman) | |||
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Member |
And, he wrote "The perfect country and western song" Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark. “If in winning a race, you lose the respect of your fellow competitors, then you have won nothing” - Paul Elvstrom "The Great Dane" 1928 - 2016 | |||
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| אַרְיֵה |
he co-wrote that with another very talented guy, John Prine. John was another, who was a regular at the music bars in Chicago, in the 1970s. He was another whose performances we tried never to miss. The story is, that Steve and John were performing in NYC. They got very drunk one night, put their writing talents to work, and the result was “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” the song that you refer to. Chicago was rich in musical talent, partly due to the presence of the Old Town School of Folk Music, and there were quite a few bars that showcased this talent. We would go to listen and have a few beers just about every Friday and Saturday, and sometimes to the “open mike” evenings during the week. Good memories. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| Member |
They use a regular old scanner, or the "high tech" guys use an app on their phones. They'll usually work in one area, and have that specific police zone tuned in. When they hear an accident, they show up. The fun part starts when they charge a towing fee higher than an Eagles ass to get the car out of their lot. But who cares, right? It's an insurance job, and the insurance company pays that outrageous fee. Well, the insurance companies got pissed, and laws got passed. Now YOU have to call the truck, some random company can't just "show up". The other scam is, and I would personally call it "Auto Theft"; Towing company "ABC" just shows up to your parking lot and puts up a sign, something to the effect of "No Parking after hours... Bla bla bla.... Towed and fined.... ABC Towing" ***Most of the time*** the business owner didn't ask the company to put the sign up. The towing company just put the sign up on the wall somewhere. Any cars parked in that lot after hours, ABC Towing hooks them, and stores them until you pay the fine. Pretty much starting at $500 + the cost of the tow, $125-$150. This is popular around areas with a lot of night clubs, bars... Your car gets messed up in the process... Prove that it wasn't like that before ABC Towing hooked your car. ______________________________________________________________________ "When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!" “What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy | |||
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| Member |
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks for the post. John Kass would call it the" Chicago way." | |||
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| Member |
I worked on one scam just like the one you mentioned CPDSIG. The towing company showed up and put their No Parking sign up in a parking lot and then started to tow cars. When people would show up to claim their cars they were told about the sign and that it would take a couple of hundred to get their cars back. They paid and this went on for who knows how long. It went well until they towed the car of the guy that actually did own the parking lot one night. He called us and we responded. When we realized what they were doing we took corrective action that being we made the return every car they still had in their lot to the owners and we made sure that they refunded any money already collected from unknowing citizens. | |||
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