Golden Valley Police Warn Seniors of ‘Family Member in Jail’ Scheme

Golden Valley police are warning seniors to be on the watch for an old but effective phone scam.

Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green said that reports of the so-called “family member in jail” scam have been on the rise.

“This kind of scam has been around for quite some time,” Green said. 

During the scam, callers pose as a police officer or jail worker. They “report” that a close or important family member has “gotten into trouble” and is “locked in jail.” They then request a large sum of money to bail the person out of jail. 

“Sometimes these individuals are telling them don’t call the police, which is kind of odd if the police are calling you about bonding somebody out of jail,” Green said.

Victims then send their money and often never get it back.

“We just encourage people, hey hang up the phone and call Golden Valley or any other police department,” Green said. “Say, ‘hey, I just got a phone call from this person asking for money.’ Because we’re not going to call and ask for money.”

Golden Valley Police are warning seniors about a rise in phone scams.

‘This Could Drain Some Senior’s Bank Accounts’

At least five people in Golden Valley have recently been swindled. 

Green said victims have lost between $8,000 and $20,000 in the scheme.

“This could drain some senior’s bank accounts,” Green said. 

This style scam is difficult to trace or investigate, according to Green. 

“We’re going to be visiting with some of the financial institutions to see if they’re aware of this and what measures they can put in place to maybe put some cautions, especially if these are people who come into the bank a lot,” Green said. “They can question, or maybe call a family member, call a care giver to say ‘hey, we’ve got Mrs. Jones, she’s in the bank trying to withdraw $8,000. That’s a little odd.”

Scammers have also began targeting land lines or home phones, Green said, because they don’t mark the scam calls as spam.

“If you’re not talking to [your family member] directly, hang up the phone and call 911,” Green added. 

Golden Valley