MONROE, CT — A 67-year-old Monroe woman received a phone call from someone claiming to be her daughter on Tuesday, who told her she was arrested after being involved in a motor vehicle accident in Texas and needed money to bail her out.
She said she was calling on her attorney’s cellphone. Then a man took over the call and told the woman her daughter was at a Dallas County Courthouse and her bail was set at $10,000.
When the mother said she didn’t have the money, the man posing as a lawyer said he could reduce the bail to $5,000 if she could drop it off in cash at a strip mall in Stratford.
Just before 2 p.m., the woman went to M&T Bank, 525 Main St., and the branch manager, who asked her why she wanted to withdraw the large sum, thought it was a scam and stopped her from being victimized, according to police.
Monroe police made contact with the woman’s daughter, who confirmed she was not involved in a car accident and was totally unaware of the situation, according to the report.
No money was exchanged and the mother was advised to block the scammer’s phone number. The Monroe Police Detective Division is investigating the case.
In these types of situations, Lt. Michael Sweeney recommends calling the family member you’re being asked to help. In this case, he said the resident had tried several times to call her daughter, but couldn’t reach her at the time.
Sweeney also recommends looking up the phone numbers of any police department or courthouse mentioned in a suspicious phone call and call the agency directly to determine if the story you were told is true.
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