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Scam nets $6,678 from two elderly Struthers couples
Chief Norris advised citizens to be aware of unsolicited communications involving any type of request for funds.
STRUTHERS — Two elderly Struthers couples in their 80s were bilked out of a combined $6,678 by a scam in which the victims received calls from people identifying themselves as police and saying the victims’ grandchildren needed money.
Police Chief Robert Norris warned residents to beware of the scam, noting that professional scam rings can have access to more personal information about their victims than might be expected.
“They will use whatever information they have to make themselves sound legitimate,” he said.
Norris advised citizens to be wary of unsolicited communication, by telephone, mail or any other means, involving any type of request to send funds.
He said anyone receiving that type of call should get the name of the police agency or local post and location of the agency, as well as the name of the officer making the call, and then advise the caller that they plan to confirm their legitimacy through the local police department.
It is very easy for any police department to determine the legitimacy of an agency. No legitimate police department will be offended by such a check. In fact, they will appreciate it, he said.
The local cases were reported Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, Norris said.
In one instance, the victims received a call on Feb. 6 from a man saying their grandson had been in a traffic accident in Vancouver, Canada, and needed $3,978 to cover the cost. The victims said the caller put another man on the phone who sounded like their grandson. The fake grandson told the victims to go to the nearest Wal-mart and wire him the money. The couple wired the money at about 11:30 a.m., and reported the incident at about 4:30 p.m.
The other couple received a phone call on Feb. 12 about 12:30 p.m. from a man who identified himself as a Canadian border policeman in Toronto, and said he had the victims’ grandson in custody for a operating a vehicle intoxicated and $2,700 bail was needed for his release.
The pseudo policeman then put a man on the phone who the victim said “sounded highly upset and was crying, who addressed her as “grandma.” He told her that he was in Canada and was arrested for driving under the influence and that he needed $2,700 sent via Western Union so he could be released.
The victim told Struthers police the man sounded like her grandson, who resides in Portland, Ore., and she withdrew the money from her account, went to Nemenz IGA grocery store and wired it to a Western Union outlet in Toronto. At 7 p.m., the perpetrator called her back and said the money had been received and her grandson had been released and was on a bus heading home.
The victim said the man on the phone not only sounded like her grandson and she had prior knowledge that her grandson was making a trip to Canada to see friends. Calls to his cell phone went unanswered.
Not satisfied, the scammers called her back on Feb. 13 for more money. A man pretending to be her grandson said an additional $2,600 was needed because the Canadian authorities would not let him back into the U.S., fearing he would not return for his court appearance. The victim again went to the bank and withdrew another $2,600 and went to Nemenz and attempted to send the money. However, the transaction would not register, and the Western Union clerk told her and her husband that her first transaction had been received in Canada, but not by the intended recipient. The victim was then encouraged to go to the local police for help.
Contact was eventually made with her actual grandson and he confirmed that the story was a fabrication, according to the police report.
Norris said both cases have been turned over to the FBI for investigation.
alcorn@vindy.com