Monday, October 25, 2010

Arizona authorities warning seniors about scam

Arizona authorities are warning about scam in which thief’s pretense as grandchildren over the phone and ask for bail money.

The most recent scam was happened on Oct 18. A 75-year-old Cottonwood man got a call from a woman who recognized herself by name as his granddaughter and told him she had been under arrest in Canada and that she needed bail money. After, somebody who said they were a police sergeant called and told the man to give $5,600 in bail money to contact in Florida where the man followed the instructions but later found out his granddaughter never had been arrested and was safe at her home in Utah.

Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn reported that two such incidents occurred in September last year. He said such types of scams are difficult to investigate because scammers usually live outside the U.S. and discard cell phones before they can be traced. He said detectives judge whoever is responsible uses social networking sites, like Face book to recognize family members through profiles and photos.

He warned people to tell their parents and grandparents about this scam and that any requests for money to be wired must be seen as a red flag. He finally reported, these suspects purposely target seniors who may be more gullible and cooperate quickly out of concern for their 'jailed' loved one.

No comments:

Post a Comment