Thursday, February 12, 2009

Scam Targeting The Elderly

The Gila County Sheriff's Office would like to inform the public of a potential scam recently reported. A male caller telephoned an elderly citizen and pretended to be their grandson in order to get them to send money to Canada. The caller sounded young with no particular accent and was able to get the first name of a legitimate family member with vague answers to the citizen's questions. If you receive similar calls please question the caller and make sure that you are indeed speaking to a family member by asking the caller a specific question that only your real family would know. Most times when pressured for quick specific answers, the caller if not legitimate will give up. Please report these calls to the Law Enforcement Agency servicing your residence.

The Sheriffs Office would like to remind you that some legitimate organizations request donations over the phone but please be sure that you are speaking with whom the caller is representing. A person or entity requesting donations will not be afraid to give you straight forward answers to your questions or provide address or telephone information for the agency or group they represent so that you can double check you are in fact donating to that group.