By Joel Langton
Joe Frank Martinez, Val Verde County sheriff, said several local senior citizens have been scammed out of thousands of dollars this past week.
“Someone calls them and says that their grandson or someone that they love is in trouble, and that they need to send a money order or some form of payment to get them out of trouble,” Martinez said.
One local senior citizen lost nearly $20,000 trying to keep his grandson out of jail. “The scam artist called and said his grandson had been in an accident and his vehicle had hit a pregnant woman’s vehicle and she lost the baby,” the sheriff said. “So, he needed to send $9,000 to keep the grandson out of jail.”
The Del Rio senior citizen immediately sent the $9,000.
The scam artists were so appreciative they called the next day and requested another $9,000 saying the baby’s mother had passed away and they needed more bail money now.
This is the third local senior citizen taken advantage of in the past week, Martinez said. “People need to be aware this is going on.”
According to the FBI, the elderly are targeted because “they tend to be trusting and polite. They also usually have financial savings, own a home, and have good credit—all of which make them attractive to scammers.” More information about elderly scams can be found here.
He asked that when someone gets one of these calls, call the Sheriff’s or Police Department. “If they need to send a large sum of money somewhere, we’ll help confirm it and help the family during this time,” Martinez said.
“This isn’t the way any law enforcement agency operates, we don’t call you and tell you that you’re about to be arrested or threaten you,” Martinez said.
Fred Knoll, Del Rio police chief echoed the sheriff’s sentiments.”We encourage and urge anyone receiving any questionable calls for money, payments, alleged old warrants or tax situations that do not sound legitimate to please call us or the sheriff’s department at once.”
The sheriff’s office dispatch is at 830-774-7513 and the police department’s dispatch is at 830-774-2711.
