It took just over a week for a group of telephone scammers to pilfer more than $10,000 out of an elderly Newark woman’s bank account by claiming to be everyone from customs agents to the IRS, according to the Kendall County Sheriff’s Department.
Kendall County Sheriff’s Department Detective Sgt. Joe Jasnosz said the scam began last week when the woman received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of Global International, LLC. The caller told the victim that she had won $2.5 million in the lottery, but there was a catch. She was required to pay taxes on the lump sum, the caller said.
Buying into the ploy, the woman sent several postal money orders in small amounts in order to claim her prize.
Days later, she received another call, this time from someone claiming to work with the IRS, Jasnosz said. The woman was told that she owed fines, and eventually wired money through Western Union on two separate occasions.
Following the IRS and lottery schemes, the woman was contacted another time by someone claiming to be from customs. The caller told the woman that she needed to pay a $12,000 fee so she could claim a package in her name.
“At this point, she realized she was being scammed,” Jasnosz said. In a week and a half, the woman had sent out more than $10,000 to phone scammers.
“The best practice that a family member could have with an elderly parent or family member is to educate them about the scams that exist. Tell them to never wire or mail payments if they don’t know for sure who they are dealing with,” Jasnosz said.
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This is not the first time Jasnosz has addressed these types of scams, but it isn’t often that someone gets taken for such a large dollar amount, he said.
Jasnosz told residents to be assertive with the callers and ask questions if they aren’t sure who they’re speaking to on the phone.
“As soon as somebody starts making inquiries, the scammer isn’t gong to want to deal with it,” he said. “As soon as someone suspects a scam they should talk to family members and involve police.”
Jasnosz said that the caller in one of the IRS schemes had a Jamaican accent, and that some money had been sent to a location in Hawaii.
“Payments can bounce from one Western Union to another, though,” Jasnosz said. “It can become difficult to track.”
Anyone who feels they’ve been a victim of these or any scams should call Kendall County investigators at 630-553-7500 or email [email protected].