O’Brien County — The O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, along with law enforcement authorities in Maryland, are investigating a fraud case in which an O’Brien County resident was defrauded of more than $7-thousand.
According to the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, they received a complaint earlier this week from an O’Brien County resident who said she was the victim of a phone scam. Sheriff Allen Schuknecht says that, in this incident, an elderly woman received a phone call from a male subject who identified himself as her grandson. He told the lady that he had been arrested and was put in jail and needed cash in order to pay a bond so he could get out of jail, according to Schuknecht. The caller reportedly begged the victim to not call anyone else due to the embarrassment it would cause him. The Sheriff says another male subject was then put on the line, who claimed to be a police officer who was investigating the case. The police officer said $72-hundred would be needed to get the woman’s grandson out of jail.
The victim told authorities that the subjects called back later with specific instructions on how to send the money, and continued to emphasize that the grandmother couldn’t say anything to anyone because it would compromise the police investigation and cause embarrassment to her grandson. Being concerned for the welfare of her grandson, the victim told authorities she sent the money, as instructed, by UPS overnight delivery to a Maryland address. The victim told deputies that she later confirmed that her grandson was safe, and had no involvement with any incident in Maryland.
Schuknecht says the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office is actively working this case with Maryland law enforcement authorities, in an attempt to locate the people responsible for defrauding the O’Brien County resident.
The Sheriff reminds people that when they receive these types of calls to use caution and attempt to check the validity of the claims. He says people should always check first with their friends or relatives to attempt to verify the validity of information received in such a phone call. He says these types of scammers often play on the sympathies of elderly people, and use high-pressure statements to prevent them from reporting the crimes.
Schuknecht says law enforcement frequently receive reports of these type of cases, and he reminds people to never give out their personal identifying information, such as their Social Security number, or personal bank account information.
