Crime & Safety

News Nearby: Phony Caller Poses as Grandson in Attempted Scam on Local Grandfather

The caller said he was in jail and needed $5,000.

A Hoschton man told a Barrow County Sheriff’s deputy someone pretending to be his grandson in trouble tried to scam him out of $5,000 over the phone.

The man became suspicious soon after a caller phoned on April 14, 2014, claiming he was his grandson living in Colorado Springs, Colo., and that he was arrested for DUI and causing an accident. He said he needed help.

According to the incident report, “the unknown male told him that he had been working with a public defender, who had worked a deal to get him out of jail.”

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The caller then gave the phone to another man who claimed to be the grandson’s lawyer. The fake lawyer said the victim in the accident agreed to drop the charges against the grandson if damages to the car were paid for by him.

All the grandfather had to do, according to the incident report, was “go to CVS Pharmacy, and purchase a green dot money pack, put $5,000 onto the card and send it to his office,” located in Athens.

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The grandfather asked the man that if he was representing his grandson in Colorado, why was his office in Athens? The man said he had offices all over the U.S.

The grandfather got the man’s phone number and told him he’d call him back. Instead, he called his son, who does, in fact, live in Colorado Springs, and works for the FBI.  The son said the grandson was never arrested and the call was a scam.

The grandfather said he didn’t share any financial info with the callers.


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