The Athens-Clarke police 911 center received a call from a 51-year-old Athens man on Monday who reported his mother was the victim of a money scam perpetrated over the telephone in which she was lead to believe her daughter-in-law was in jail.
The 81-year-old woman was tricked into making a wire transfer of $5,802 to a caller, who portrayed himself as the jailed woman’s lawyer, according to Athens-Clarke police.
On Tuesday the U.S. Middle District Attorney’s Office in Macon announced it was joining the U.S. Justice Department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force in an effort to protect older adults from such fraud. The Middle District includes Athens.
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The Strike Force is targeting sophisticated fraud schemes aimed at older adults, such as the one reported in Athens, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney. Among those investigating these cases are the FBI and Homeland Security.
“The scams are diabolical, robbing money and dignity from people who have worked and sacrificed a lifetime,” Middle District Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a prepared statement.
Strike force targets ‘grandparent scams’
During the past year, the agency pursued cases against perpetrators of the “grandparent scams,” also known as “person-in-need scams,” that begin when a con artist contacts an older adult…
