Elderly Bloomfield Township Resident Loses $1,150+ in Phone Scam

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – A clerk at a local pharmacy may have prevented an elderly Bloomfield Township resident from losing more than the $1,156 already paid in phone scam seeking bail for a friend supposedly in jail.

SEE ALSO

• Jury Duty, IRS Scams Making the Rounds Again
• It’s Tax Season: How to Avoid $21B Fraud Problem
• How to Stop Charity Junk Mail Solicitations, IRS Scams

The victim told police an individual called and said the victim’s friend was in jail in New Jersey, a second caller posed as an attorney and a third individual called to confirm the victim and wired the money via Western Union, the Bloomfield Township Police Department said in a statement.

The victim drove to a CVS pharmacy with the intention of sending more money, but “an alert CVS clerk recognized the scam and prevented the elderly victim from sending additional money,” Detective Sgt. James Gallagher said.

Gallagher said police have taken several complaints of phone scams — often targeting elderly residents — in which callers solicit money.