Michigan Police Seek Scam Artist Using Extortion Threats To Squeeze Cash From Homeowners In Foreclosure

In Genesee County, Michigan, WJRT-TV Channel 12 reports:

• Genesee County Sheriff Bob Pickell is alerting homeowners about a suspicious man who's preying on foreclosure victims. An investigation is underway after a Genesee County woman complained that a man came to her door urging her to get out of her house or to give him money.

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• Tina and Frank First say their home isn't in foreclosure, but there have been disagreements with their mortgage company that led to a threatened eviction. In the middle of all that, a man came to their door. "He says, 'Give me $2,000 to stay in the house,' or he'll pop the locks and he'd put on a lockbox and I'd have to leave," Tina First said.

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• "You cannot extort people out of their house. He didn't know the bank, he didn't have the papers, he had no legal identification. He had nothing," Capt. Chris Swanson said. "He was playing on the fears of the homeowner, who did not expect someone to be there."

For more, see Authorities warn of foreclosure scheme.