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Fraudulent Activity

DATE & TIME: 09-22-2016    

LOCATION: Rural Gage County                 

OFFENSE: Fraud

CASE #: 2016-5019

The Gage County Sheriff’s Office has received numerous complaints and reports of fraudulent activity targeting elderly residents.  There are various methods, one of the more common being an elderly resident being contacted by telephone and when they answer the telephone, the person on the other end of the line says, “Grandma.” (or Grandpa).  The targeted individual then responds with the name of one of their grandchildren, whoever they think the person sounds like.  The suspect will then say that is who they are.

The suspect will then begin to tell a story about how they are in trouble, usually involving being arrested for a crime, but are innocent, with a plausible explanation.  The suspect then tells the victim they need bail money right away in order to get out of jail.   As an additional twist, they tell the victim how embarrassed they are and they want to keep the information out of the news, which they can do if they can get the money for bail.

There are numerous variations, including having a second suspect pretend to be a law enforcement officer with directions on how and where to send the money.  The suspects may continue to contact the elderly victim, even obtaining subsequent payments.

One victim in Gage County lost over $33,000.00 to this fraudulent activity, while others have lost less or were stopped from sending any payments by family members.

The cases are still under investigation.

The Gage County Sheriff’s Office encourages residents to contact their local law enforcement agency to confirm the veracity of any type of unsolicited request for funds and to also contact trusted family members to determine a proper course of action.

Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson #903

Investigator T. Hanson #90310