Thursday, November 14, 2013

Scam Continues To Target Elderly

Elderly Woman Scammed Out Of More Than $16,000 

Mesa County, Colo.-- On November 6, 2013, at about 1:15 p.m., our agency Service Tech was dispatched to a residence in our County to meet with a 73-year-old victim. The victim told our Tech that from between October 31, 2013 and November 6, she was victimized through a telephone scam. The caller claimed to be her grandson. She said, the person impersonated her grandson claimed he was in a car wreck and needed money sent to New York, Mexico and Nicaragua for attorney’s fees, insurance adjusters, etc. She reported she used Western Union and Wal-Mart Money Gram twelve times to send a total of $16,224.00. She stated she finally contacted her grandson who told her he had not contacted her during the subject time period.

This is an all to common scam that targets elderly people and plays on their love for their family. Sadly, there is no way for this money to be recovered. You should always verify the validity of the caller before providing any personal information and/or sending money anywhere.

For more information on current circulating scams, visit the FBI's Fraud and Scam website. And for emergency updates in Mesa County, follow us on Twitter @SheriffMesaColo using #GVCopBeat.