DETROIT (WXYZ) — A new warning is being made about fake calls to get your money. And they are working, finding victims.
In one case, callers claim to be from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, giving real names of real employees. They tell people they call you have to pay on a bond right away or be arrested.
A man who only wants us to call him Tom was in the Sheriff’s Office to report he was scammed out of almost $10 grand. And he says the call sounded so urgent he and his wife drove to the bank, withdrew the money, and followed instructions to put the money into a cryptocurrency machine in a gas station.
Tom told us, “They kept us on a telephone so we wouldn't communicate with each other nor anybody else. And they informed my wife that the money arrived.”
They were on the phone after that and told they needed to pay more for a federal bond and then he knew they’d been had.
“How do you feel when somebody took $9,800 out of your pocket?” Tom said.
Wayne County Undersheriff Mike Jaafar tells 7 Action News, “The judicial system does not call you and tell you to send them money. That just does not happen at any level. Local, state, federal, we just don't do that.”
Two weeks ago, Tom also took another call claiming to be from the phone company saying if he paid some $400 now, he would get a discount on his bill for the next 3 years. He paid it through eBay and PayPal but the transfer was removed. It was another scam.
Undersheriff Jaafar says he’s glad Tom came forward and wanted to speak out adding, “Elderly, I’m sure retired, worked very hard for his money. So, I commend him for coming out because he's the first individual that actually got on camera and was really adamant about notifying the public.”
Tom tells us half-jokingly he would like the guys who did this to be in front of a firing squad.
