The Roswell man reported the incident to Roswell police officers Aug. 11.

The scheme started in mid-July when the Roswell man got a call from someone he believed to be with American Express. The caller said someone was using a card in the local man’s name, and the call was transferred to someone who claimed to be with the New York City Police Department.

After speaking with three supposed officers, the man learned NYPD allegedly had evidence that his Bank of America account was involved in money laundering for a cartel. He was then transferred to someone he believed to be with the FBI. They told the Roswell man that if he did not share information about his personal bank accounts with Fidelity Investments and Wells Fargo Bank, he would be detained.

The Roswell man sent the caller a picture of the balances in both accounts but redacted the account numbers. The person on the phone requested the Roswell man buy a new phone so they could monitor him using the encrypted messaging app Signal. The man bought the phone for $1,200 and was told the supposed officers would refund him the money.

A month later, on Aug. 10, the man logged into what he believed was his online Fidelity account. He received a notification that the account was compromised and was told to call a number. He made the call, which was answered by someone claiming to be from “Microsoft Word.”

The person who answered the call told the Roswell man to go to Wells Fargo, withdraw $30,000, put it in a brown paper bag and meet him at 8610 Roswell Road.

The Roswell man met with one of the alleged fraudsters between 7:30 and 8 p.m. that evening. The Roswell man provided a description of the subject, saying he was around 5’7” with a small build and black curly hair.