Chicago Feds Pinch Woman For Allegedly Posing As Federal Housing Representative, Then Using Foreclosure Threats To Illegally Squeeze Area Homeowners Out Of Cash

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Chicago, Illinois):

• A Chicago woman has been charged with posing as a federal housing representative to scam homeowners out of cash, federal authorities announced [].
  
  CYNTHIA WALLACE, 45, of Chicago, is charged with one count of falsely assuming and pretending to be an officer of the United States.
  
  Last month Wallace posed as an official from the “Federal Housing Authority” and “H.U.D.” in numerous phone calls she placed to Chicago-area homeowners, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. During the calls, Wallace said the federal government would foreclose on the victims’ homes unless they wired money to a location determined by Wallace.
  
  One of Wallace’s intended targets was a 79-year-old woman from the West Side of Chicago, the complaint states. Two other targets – a husband and wife from south suburban Harvey – wired more than $3,500 to Wallace, according to the complaint.

For more, see Chicago Woman Charged with Posing as Federal Housing Official to Scam Homeowners out of Cash.