BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–If you have receive a call from an attorney or someone pretending to be law enforcement about a relative out of state being in jail, be cautious warns the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office.
According to deputies, the Green Dot money card scam has evolved and the scammers are using Target gift cards now.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office confirms that it has received reports from elderly residents concerning calls from a person claiming to be an attorney for their grandson/granddaughter in another state. They are then told that they need to spend $4,000 to the attorney out of state.
Unique to this scam is that the callers know the names of the family of the victims. While this type of information is available on the Internet, it adds to the credibility of the call – particularly when the call is to a grandparent who may be more trusting than others.
The scammers request the $4,000 in money cards and then want the caller to give them the codes to the cards. Once this is done, the money on the cards is drawn down almost immediately.
“PLEASE let your elderly relatives be aware of this scam as it is exceedingly difficult to recover the money once it is drawn off of the card,” warns the sheriff’s office.
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