Crime Alert – Grandparent Telephone Scam
Menomonee Falls Crime Alert Recently, the Menomonee Falls Police Department and surrounding agencies have received complaints of telephone scams in which a scammer will call claiming to be a police officer demanding bail for a relative, a relative calling for bail money or a kidnapper demanding ransom. These types of scams have been around for years and typically target the elderly. Victims will be directed to transfer money through a money wiring service to a location outside of the United States. The scam and scam artists have become more sophisticated. Thanks to the Internet and social networking sites, a criminal can sometimes uncover personal information about their targets, which makes the impersonations more believable. Common scenarios have included a grandparent receives a phone call or an e-mail from a “grandchild”…