Crime & Safety

Scam Artists Use Granddaughter to Exploit 73-Year-Old

A local woman sent about $8,800 overseas in hopes of bailing out her granddaughter. She later realized her granddaughter was never in any trouble.

Scam artists targeted a 73-year-old woman last week who was so upset at the thought of her granddaughter being in trouble that she wired more than $8,000 overseas to bail her out of jail.

The local woman called police around 9 p.m. Feb. 9, after she realized that she was the victim of a scam. She said that around 1:30 p.m. that day, she got a call from someone saying she was her "favorite granddaughter." Unsure of which granddaughter it was, the woman began to guess. The caller then pretended to be one of those granddaughters.

"The female caller then informed (the victim) that she was in a vehicle with three of her friends when they were pulled over by police," the report said. "The female caller advised (the victim) that drugs were discovered in the vehicle, she had been arrested and was in need of bond money."

Find out what's happening in Tinley Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The phone, at one point, was handed over to the "arresting officer" who told the victim she could spring her granddaughter out of jail by sending $2,400 to Lima, Peru. The woman did so and was later contacted again.

"(The man posing as the officer) advised that the 'judge' required an additional $12,000 in bond money but that (the victim) would only have to send another $6,400," the report said.

Find out what's happening in Tinley Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The grandmother, still concerned for her granddaughter's well being, decided to wire the rest of the money to Quito, Ecuador, as requested. She later contacted her granddaughter to see if everything worked out. The teen was sick in a dorm room at her Wisconsin college, the report said, and wasn't in any trouble. 

The victim was shaking so uncontrollably when talking to officers about the incident that they called in paramedics to help. She refused treatment but continued crying.

She was contacted Feb. 10 by a Western Union employee who said he was able to intercept the second payment because it was flagged as being suspicious. The $2,400 was not recovered, according to the report.

Looking for more police news?


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.