The Los Alamitos Police Department wants to make you aware of an ongoing scam that is primarily targeting senior citizens.
The scam involves the suspect calling the victim on the telephone and falsely identifying themselves as a relative of the victim, usually a son or grandson. The caller is able to trick the victim because he addresses the victim by name, usually obtaining the name through some legal source. The caller may also address the victim by relation, as in “grandpa” or “grandma.”
The suspect caller tells the victim that they have been arrested and need the victim to send money to help them get out of jail. The suspect usually instructs the victim to send the money via wire transfer, Western Union, or cashiers check. The suspect further tells the victim to not tell anyone else about this problem because he is too embarrassed to let anyone else know.
The Los Alamitos Police Department strongly urges that if you receive a similar phone call, you should take steps to verify the circumstances. You can accomplish this by either calling the number you have on record for that relative, calling the police agency where the relative claims to have been arrested, or even calling the Los Alamitos Police Department to assist you in verifying the information. We are aware of at least one victim in our City and the police have been contacted by others who have received these telephone calls. Conduct an Internet search for “Grandma I’m in Jail” and you will see this scam has occurred in many jurisdictions.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the Los Alamitos Police Department for assistance. It is important to avoid being victimized in the first place and to prevent the transfer of money. Often the source of these scams is overseas, out of the reach of United States law enforcement and accountability.
Submitted by J. Goldmark, West Cities Police Communications (West-Comm)