Elderly Scams
This page will provide important information to you from the Chesterfield Police Department involving recent activities in the area.
The Chesterfield Police Department is currently investigating various scams against the elderly population within the town of Chesterfield. The last three complaints (that have occurred within the last two months) involve the following:The suspect calls the Chesterfield residents home. When the resident answers, they ask the resident to guess who is on the other end of the line. As the resident guesses, the suspect ultimately “admits” that he is one of their grandsons. The suspect then tells the resident that he is being held at a jail in Canada and needs bail money. The suspect will then ask the resident to not contact other family members for fear of getting in trouble. He will then ask that the money be sent to Canada via Western Union. The story can be elaborate and he will “string” the resident along, for as long as he can.Other scams include person’s selling cars in the newspaper and on Craigslist. The caller will tell the seller that he will purchase the car for the asking price and will mail a check to the seller. When the seller gets the check, the check is usually for much more than what the asking price is. When the “honest” seller contacts the buyer to advise him of the wrong amount, the buyer will tell the seller to cash the check, keep anywhere from $100.00-$500.00 for their troubles and then send the rest back to them via a cashiers check or Western Union. This is usually in the range of $1000.00. The buyer will then tell the seller that he will be sending a tow truck down to pick up the “purchased property” within the next week or so. He never does and the check is a fake. The bank does not reimburse the seller for any loss of funds.
Another scam involves the suspect scanning the obituaries. They will contact the decedent’s family and tell them that the decedent has a large amount of money owed to him/her via the IRS, Investments, etc. They tell the family to send him a check for $250.00-$1000.00 which will cover filing fees and expenses. He will tell the family that once he receives the money, he will send them the large amount of money that the decedent had owed to him/her. The money never arrives.
Please remember that these scams are always evolving. The suspects use the telephone, email and postal mail to commit their crimes.
If you receive something that you may think is a scam, please contact a trusted friend, family member, your financial advisor or the police.
If you have information about a fraud, report it to your local law enforcement agency.
If you think that credit was established in your name which is not yours, please contact this agency. I can provide you with an “Identity Theft” packet which walks you through what needs to be done to correct these issues.
Protect Yourself!
- Never send money to anyone who you do not know.
- Verify who the caller is. Some callers claim to be from your banking institution or Credit Card Company.
- Never “verify” your Account Numbers, Pin Numbers or “Secret Code” over the phone.
- Periodically check your “credit history” via Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.
- “Google” your name on the internet. See what information is out via the “web”. In many instances, if you check the “white pages” on the internet and put your name in, the white pages not only give your name and phone number, but a general age. i.e. 60-64 years old.