Con artist scams Highland Park grandmother out of $14,000
HIGHLAND PARK, Texas - Highland Park police are trying to track down a con artist who scammed a 93-year old woman out of thousands of dollars twice.
The man convinced the grandmother that she needed to send money across the country to help get her grandson out of trouble.
Unfortunately, the scam is not uncommon. The 93-year old woman's son got in touch with FOX 4 after learning what took place. They believe it’s a story worth sharing to hopefully help prevent someone, especially elderly people, from falling prey to con artists that they call despicable.
She's a 93-year-old grandmother and the victim of a scam. For her privacy, FOX 4 is not revealing her name.
"I ended up sending $7,000 two times,” she said. “I should've made sure he was in jail and that he actually had this accident."
The made-up story was about her grandson who lives in Houston. The con artist who called her home on December 19 said his name was David Green. He told her that her grandson had caused a crash and was in jail.
"They asked me to send this money,” she said. “To put it in a magazine and tape it up."
The Highland Park police report states she "complied with the request and placed 70 $100 bills totaling $7,000 in a magazine and had it sent via UPS listed to the listed address" in Philadelphia.
The report states that two days later the same man called requesting another $7,000 to be sent to a Connecticut address. She complied.
After the second $7000 payment, the grandmother got family members involved and the police. An investigator was at her home when the scammer called again. The officer took the phone, identified himself and told the con artist he was committing a federal crime.
The man replied, “Good luck catching me, Mr. Federal."
The grandmother now wants others to be on guard.
"People: investigate more thoroughly before they respond to something like this,” she advised.
The grandmother's unfortunate situation serves a reminder to those with elderly family members. It's important to stay connected to them, talk with them routinely and consistently about their financial activities and about possible scammers trying to take advantage of them.