Crime & Safety

Police: Caller Tries To Scam Senior Out of Money

Caller poses as 84-year-old woman's grandson and tries to get her to wire money to him so he can get out of a Mexican jail.

Another instance of a caller posing as a senior’s grandson and asking for bail money to be wired out of the country was reported on Dec. 21.

An 84-year-old woman told that she received a call from an unknown male who claimed to be her grandson around 10 a.m. Police said the woman thought the man was really her grandson and called him by his first name.

The “grandson” said he went to Mexico for the weekend to attend a wedding and was under arrest after getting into a car accident. He told the woman he needed $2,900 wired to him so he could get out of jail. He also asked that the woman not tell his parents.

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While talking to the “grandson” he told his grandmother to talk to his lawyer, a man named “Roger Schwartz.”

The lawyer asked the woman if she had $2,900 cash to send through Western Union to bail the grandson out of jail. “Roger” also informed her that there would be an additional fee between $80 and $150 in addition to the bail amount.

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Police said the lawyer told the woman that her grandson “only had a few hours” and to send the money right away.

When the woman informed “Roger” that she didn’t handle her own finances and that she would have to call one of her sons for help, the lawyer got aggravated with her and hung up.

After she got off the phone, the woman called her son to help her. Police said the woman was crying and upset because she thought her grandson was locked up in jail in Mexico. The woman felt “panicky and afraid” after the phone call.

Police said the woman was unable to capture the phone number that appeared on her caller ID.

She was advised to contact relatives and the Oak Lawn police if the men called back to ask her to wire money.

During the fall, Oak Lawn Police Chief Bill Villanova told the village board of a similar scam that occurred on elderly couple from a caller posing as their grandson. The call originated from Canada and the caller told them he, too, was in jail and needed bail money.


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