SMITHFIELD – Police are investigating a scam that cost a local woman thousands of dollars. The 83 year-old victim reported she received a phone call from someone pretending to be a family member. The caller claimed they had an urgent medical problem and needed money.
Thinking it was a distant relative, and not knowing she was talking with a scammer, the victim mailed $15,000 in cash to the address provided by the caller. It wasn’t a relative but a scammer.
Only later did the woman realize she had fallen victim to the scam. She notified law enforcement officers who are now investigating.
Crickets at this point….
TO EVERYBODY, Please go visit your elderly relatives and explain to them about the many scams that are going on. Tell them to never trust anyone who calls them, no matter what their Caller ID says. Criminals can spoof phone numbers to look like they’re whoever they want (Banks, hospitals, police, even family members) Let them know that they should always call you so you can confirm that the call is legitimate. Times (and people) now are completely different than what they remember. We need to start protecting our elderly relatives, it’s our responsibility. The criminal scammers WILL NOT stop until everyone stops falling victim to them.
Perhaps when an elderly person asks for thousands of dollars in cash, the bank teller should suggest they speak to a bank executive about scammers.
Absolutely!!! We need everybody’s help to finally win this war against the criminal scammers. Hopefully we have some bank employees here who can make your suggestion happen. US law enforcement agencies basically have their hands tied because 99.9% of these scammers are in another country (India, Nigeria, Jamaica…just to name a few).
And they definitely asked her what it was for. It’s federal law for cash withdrawals over $10,0000
It’s a federal law to report anything $10K or over or anything under that is suspicious. The law doesn’t say to ask them why.
The scammers tell victims exactly what to say at the bank. The victims are usually told to tell the bank employees that the money is for medical expenses or home improvements.
Believe me, the scammers are extremely good at what they do. They scam all day, every day. They are told by the scam center owners that there will be dire consequences if they don’t steal enough money from their victims. They get really good at scamming really fast.
As I said before, they will not stop until people stop falling for their scams.
These scammers will rot in HE double toothpicks!
Bill Gates, with his fortune, should be funding a unit to resolve scamming issues. May of which are perpetuated through his financial empires tools. Getting cozy with China will only increase the drain on everyones financial future.
I agree with you 100%
Bill Gates has been too busy funding the gain-of-function research that initiated the whole Wuhan Flu boondoggle. He definitely does not care about senior citizens losing their entire life savings to criminals.