LA Loft Blog

Reader Questions: | Blog Video

Q: What’s happening with the dreww donnovan scam? A: Watch out! The perpetrator Drew Christian Donovan AKA Christian Andrews AKA Jimmy Wayne Jackson has been reported several times in the past few months, and as recently as a couple days ago, ripping off innocent people in Irvine and Laguna Beach, CA. #drewdonovan

He’s known for using pretend wealth, fake illness, fake distress, fake philanthropy, fake real estate offers, banks, ATMs, hotels, fake payments and fake payment confirmations as props for his fraud schemes and identity theft. #conartist #fraud

Be on the lookout for anyone claiming to be wealthy, who wants to give money to help other people. If the “philanthropist” asks for money, credit card or other assistance, stop and call the police.

READER REPORT

I worked with Drew at Bloomingdales. Today he called me with a wild story. He was crying and upset. Said his car was in the impound. He needed to go to police station first to get his car released. I picked him up at the Sonesta Hotel 17941 Von Karman Ave Irvine CA 92614. Then drove him to the Laguna Beach police station. He said he couldn’t pay for release paper to get stuff without car He said he had cash in the trunk of his car. I covered the $150 charge. So we could get the release paper and get to his stuff in car. We arrived at To & Mo located at 2555 Laguna Canyon Rd, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 to get his car which was another $315. I told him I did not have $315 he needed to get that from trunk of his car to pay the tow company. He assured me he had the cash in his car and assured me as soon as he got the car out he would get the cash from the trunk of his car. I paid the $315 He pulled his Black BMW out of the tow yard. I wanted him to open the trunk and get my cash at gate he did not want to do this at the tow parking lot. I agreed to follow him to Pavillians parking lot off the Pacific coast highway so he could oprn trunk and pay me back from the cash in his car. At parking lot he opened trunk. His suitcase was open he said tow people went through his trunk and he had been robbed. He said he could transfer $1000 to my account I said I needed cash. I said he should look if his cash was in trunk and call police. I offered to call the police. He said he wanted to call his trustee instead because that was part of his inheritance. He called his trustee and she said she was on the way. I didnt want to leave without my money. I was going to wait around until she arrived. He gave me his ATM card and wrote his pin # told me to withdraw $1000 to cover my $600 I had spent on gas to Laguna Beach, fees, and tolls. I told him I would just take the $600 out to cover expenses. He said he would pick his card up from me later that evening. When I arrived at the ATM the card was declined. The ATM machine said the withdrawal function was disabled on this card. I called him immediately. He said it was attached to a trust and his trustee must have blocked the card. He told me he would fix it in the morning. I then googled his name and found your you tube video warning about him. The $600 I used was all I had in my account. I am going to report to police in the morning.

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Thank you. As a group, we’ve gotten him arrested twice, and jailed for 6-12 months. We’ll get him locked up longer next time.

Sue him in small claims court. Civil lawsuits can slow him down and potentially get you some money, even land him in jail for contempt of court. Report all suspicious fraud activity to the police and to stopfraud@laloftblog.com | MORE

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