News Releases

Two Suspects Arrested for Committing Check Scam via Instagram; Possibility of Additional Victims a Concern

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Detectives from the 4th District - Patrol Investigations Unit have charged Nassir Eggleston, age 24, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Julenni Mora, age 25, of Circle Gate Drive in Germantown, with multiple fraud, forgery, and theft offenses related to a check scam that they ran via Instagram.  Investigators have identified five female victims of this scam (four Montgomery County residents and one Prince George's County resident) dating back to 2018 with a total loss of approximately $6,400.  Detectives are concerned that there are additional victims of this fraud.

The Police Department was made aware of this potential check scam in November 2019.

• During the investigation, detectives determined that Eggleston would use his Instagram account "unlvckynas" to post photos and videos of himself with cash.  He would contact female Instagram account users and pay the users to use their accounts to commit the scam.

• Eggleston would then use the female accounts to post photos of bank account statements with large account balances and state how easy it was to make money through "currency exchange."

• He would reach out to the Instagram users' friends (both male and female) and ask a potential victim if she/he wanted to make money by participating in the "currency exchange."  If the person wanted to participate, Eggleston would tell the victim that as part of the exchange, he would send the victim a check and the victim would need to deposit it in his/her bank account.

• Once the victim deposited the check in her bank account, Eggleston would tell the victim to withdraw an amount of money from the check and send it to him via a cash app or online money transfer system or send cash.  Eggleston would tell the victim that she could keep the remaining balance of the check.  After a couple of days, the bank would notify the victim that the check was fraudulent and the victim was responsible for the check's amount.

Investigators determined that the money the victims were sending to Eggleston was being sent to Mora's bank accounts both directly (victims were sending the money to Mora's cash app) or indirectly (the money was transferred to Mora's account by Eggleston).

Detectives obtained warrants for Eggleston and Mora's arrest on June 19, 2020.  Mora was arrested on June 25 and Eggleston was arrested on September 23.  Both suspects have been released from custody on bond.

Anyone who believes that he/she has been a victim of Eggleston and Mora's scam is asked to contact investigators at 240-773-5541.

How to Spot, Avoid and Report Fake Check Scams (Federal Trade Commission)

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Release ID: 20-421
Media Contact: Rebecca Innocenti 
Categories: scam