Milford Resident Falls Victim to Phone Scam, Loses $4,000

Image via Shutterstock

The Milford Police Department issued a warning on Monday to residents regarding a phone scam that resulted in one woman losing $4,000.

The resident reportedly received a call by a person identifying himself as her grandson, and stating that he had been in a car accident and needed $4,500 to avoid criminal charges. The resident believed the caller to be her grandson, who also told her that his attorney would call back with instructions on how to wire the money. Shortly thereafter, a second person called the woman and told her to go to a nearby CVS to purchase MoneyPak cards and follow the instructions for activating them.

The woman, police said, then went to CVS and bought nine $500 prepaid cards, with a total value of $4,500. Though unable to complete all the transactions at CVS, the woman was instructed to visit Rite Aid in Milford, and she eventually wired most of the $4,500 to a Pay Pal account.

After wiring the money, the woman becaeme suspicious and found later that it was a scam, but it had been too late to stop the $4,000 from going out to the scammers.

The telephone numbers from which the scammers called were as follows, according to MIlford police:

• 640-460-3180 -- police said this number is an invalid phone number and may be a spoofed number.
• 403-389-6076 -- police said this number originates from Albert and Calgary, Canada.

In Monday’s warning, police issued the following statement:

“Scams of this type have been around and unfortunately some people have fallen for it and lost substantial amounts of money, which most likely was wired outside the country, where U.S. Law Enforcement has no jurisdiction making it extremely difficult to investigate.

“If you receive any type of calls that appear suspicious, take your time and check weith a loved one or contact law enforcement for assistance before acting. Don’t become a victim.”