Thief intercepts call, and almost $500,000

An identity thief tried to steal almost a half million dollars from Wisconsin’s richest man, police said  — and was extraordinarily sophisticated in the attempt.

Police in Eau Claire, Wisc., said late last week that someone in April tried to get home improvement magnate John Menard’s Eau Claire bank to wire $475,000 from Menard’s account to an account overseas, according to a report by report by WQOW-TV of Eau Claire. The person knew bank account numbers, passwords and Menard’s Social Security number, police said. The person then asked the bank to call Menard’s home to verify the transaction — and that phone call was intercepted by the thief, police said.

"The criminals are finding more and more ways to do things," says Clay Wanta of the Eau Claire Police Department. “That’s the first time we had seen (a case) in which someone’s home telephone number was intercepted.”

At about the same time the call was being made to Menard’s home, the bank also called Menard’s office, which contacted Menard, on a plane at the time. The bank was then told not to make the transfer.

Police are still investigating the case.  No arrests have been made.

"We were really impressed with the great job that the bank employees did in following their common sense instincts in stopping these criminals in their tracks,” Menard said in a statement released Monday. “This incident ... shows that Midwestern bank employees really do care and are very hard to fool. The great job that Detective Wanta and the Eau Claire Police Department did in investigating this matter gives me great confidence that sooner or later these scoundrels will be caught." The WQOW report did not name Menard’s bank.

Menard is the founder and owner of Menard’s, a home improvement retailer with stores throughout the Midwest.