Press release from the Indiana State Police

(Versailles, Ind.) - The Indiana State Police would like to remind citizens of scammers constantly on the hunt for an easy buck.  These scammers usually target senior citizens because they tend to be more trusting and are more easily manipulated.  Most recently an 89-year-old senior citizen in Franklin County was duped out of several thousand dollars when a call was received from a “relative” who had been involved in an accident in Ireland.  The senior was asked to wire the money to a location in Canada only to find out later it was a scam.  

Many times these scammers will call seniors and claim to be a grandchild or other young adult relative in some kind of trouble in a foreign country.  The “relative” will claim they were involved in an accident, have been arrested, or some other situation requiring a large amount of money to resolve the problem.  The “relative” will tell the senior citizen to “Please don’t tell Mom or Dad” about the situation.  By the time the senior citizen discovers they have been scammed it’s too late.  If the money is sent to a location in another state, it’s virtually impossible to discover the scammer and if sent to a foreign country, there is nothing the police in the United States can do.

Anyone receiving these kinds of calls, particularly requests for large amounts of cash, should ask many questions of the caller to include something personal that only the “real” relative would know the answer to.  If there is still uncertainty, call the parents of the “relative” or other family members and ask them if their son or daughter is out of the country and make absolutely certain the request is legitimate before sending any money.