Scottdale police are warning that some elderly residents recently were targeted by a phony telephone caller claiming to be a young relative who wrecked his car and was in dire need of bail money.
Chief Barry Pritts said one resident received a call from a young person claiming to be her great-grandson who had just wrecked and was in the Westmoreland County Prison for DUI and had suffered a broken nose.
The caller told the woman he needed bail money right away, Pritts said.
“The woman did not provide any information and contacted her great-grandson’s mother who reported that he was in school and OK,” Pritts said.
Pritts warned that the elderly are commonly targeted in such telephone scams in an attempt to obtain personal information.
The American Association of Retired Persons has issued multiple warnings to members on such grandparent scams and noted that between 2015 and March 2020, the Federal Trade Commission logged more than 91,000 reports of such frauds and attempted frauds.
“People should never provide personal information over the telephone to unknown individuals,” Pritts noted.
