An Arlington Heights resident a well-known scam known as the Grandmother Scam. A 78-year-old female resident of the 1500 block of Kendal Court received a call from a subject claiming to be her grandson. He “explained” he was in Mexico for a wedding and got in an accident while driving a rental car. He told the woman that he needed her to wire $3,250.00 via Western Union so he could bond out of jail. While the voice sounded vaguely like her grandson’s voice, she believed the call was a scam. Later during the call, a second subject got on the line claiming to be Officer Jose Sanchez. The potential victim was able to determine that her grandson was in Palatine and not Mexico. When she confronted the caller with this information the offenders immediately hung up. No money was wired.
The Grandmother Scam or Grandparent Scam is a common scam. There are a variety of fictitious scenarios that are schemed up with different claimed locations and countries, a variety of reasons why the money is needed, and a variety of amounts.
The attempt at a crime is reported to have occurred Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 11:22 a.m.
Get updates from The Cardinal CRIME BLOG ‘Plus’ on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Crime & Forensics’ Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts in the 24/7 Crime Alerts! and sub-categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …