VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. — The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office says older adults have recently been the target of several scams. One victim is sharing her story, so others aren’t fooled like she was.
“I was in a dead sleep when the phone rang,” said the victim, who does not want to be identified.
On the line was a person claiming to be from the sheriff's department saying that her son had been involved in a car accident and badly injured a pregnant woman.
“A different person got on the phone, telling me he was the court-appointed attorney and that the bail bond was $16,000,” the victim said.
The Bloomingdale woman was then told to bring the money to a U-Haul store on 68th Street in Kent County.
The victim said, “I forged ahead thinking my son was in jail.”
She met a woman in the parking lot and was instructed to give her the $16,000.
“I realized by the time I got home that I'd probably been scammed. I called the local jails. Of course, there was no record of my son in jail,” said the victim.
The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office says unfortunately this is not an isolated case.
“I would say since the beginning of this year, I wouldn’t be very surprised if we've not handled a dozen or more of these types of calls,” said Detective Lt. David Walker.
He says in some cases the criminals are in other countries, making arrests difficult.
“A lot of times they'll admit that they're 'You'll never catch me. The country that I'm doing this from has no affiliation with the United States,' where they would help us prosecute these people,” said Lieutenant Walker.
But in this case, the criminals used a local courier to receive the money and now deputies are looking to identify her.
Lieutenant Walker said, “I find that very hard to believe that this woman does not believe that she's doing something illegal, and she's involved in some type of criminal activity, meeting with somebody at a U-Haul parking lot and getting $16,000 cash from an elderly woman.”
Lieutenant Walker says before you hand over or send any money, take a minute and call someone else to get their opinion, saying, “This is a common scam. When in doubt, call the police, even actually call a relative; call a friend; make sure, you know, getting a second opinion anytime is important.”
The victim from Bloomingdale wishes she would have called someone else before getting ripped off but now wants her story to be a warning.
“My faith in humanity, tarnished. I feel anger; I feel hurt; I feel less happy. It'll be a long time before I recover,” said the victim.
Lieutenant Walker is asking if you recognize the car or person who is suspected to be involved, please call Silent Observer at 269-343-2100, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP, or the Van Buren County Sheriff‘s Office at 269-657-2006.
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