This scam targets the elderly
The phone rang one morning earlier this month for an 81-year-old River Falls man.By: By Phil Pfuehler , Pierce County Herald
RIVER FALLS--The phone rang one morning earlier this month for an 81-year-old River Falls man.
The male caller said, “Hi, grandpa,” and started chatting about life in River Falls and the Green Bay Packers.
The elderly man assumed he was talking to his young adult grandson, who lives in New York City.
The conversation suddenly got emotional. The “grandson” said he was driving in Canada and had been stopped by police. His passenger was arrested for drug use and the grandson was also implicated, in jail and needed money to bond out.
Then a woman came on the line. She said she was with the Niagara Falls Police Department and the grandson’s arrest could harm his career in New York.
The woman added that, if money was wired to him via Western Union, then the arrest would be expunged from the record because the Canadians wouldn’t notify the U.S. Embassy of the incident.
When the grandson caller spoke again, he said he was embarrassed and asked the River Falls man not to tell anyone of his predicament. Then he asked $2,850 be wired to what turned out to be an address in Valencia, Spain.
The River Falls man was to call a certain number when the transaction was completed. The caller said he would repay the man once he was released from jail. The “grandpa” wired the money, plus paid a $135 fee to Western Union. He called to confirm what he had done.
For more please read the Dec. 29 print version of the Pierce County Herald.
Tags: crime and courts, state news, news, wisconsin, crime
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