Police See Familiar Pattern in Scams Targeting Elderly

Bloomfield Township, MI — Scammers continued to target elderly Bloomfield Township residents, prompting the police department to again warn all residents to be cautious when they’re asked to make credit card payments over the phone.

Last week, a woman bought $10,000 worth of ITunes gift cards to satisfy a tax debt she supposedly owned before she realized she’d been taken.

On Tuesday, a 65-year-old woman fell for the same scam, according to a news release from the Bloomfield Township Police Department.

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The latest victim reportedly received a call from a man with a foreign accent claiming to be an IRS agent.

“The ‘agent’ told the woman that she owed $7,000 in back taxes and if a portion of the money was not payed, she would be arrested,” according to the release. “The ‘agent’ told the woman to purchase $2,000 worth of I-Tunes cards from a store and to tell the cashier that they were for personal use.

After speaking with her daughter, the woman realized she had been scammed, police said.

Another resident fell victim to the jury duty scam.

On July 1, a 73-year-old woman told police that she had received a call from a person who claimed to be a law enforcement officer who had an outstanding warrant for her arrest for failing to appear for jury duty, according to the release.

The imposter took her credit card information to pay for a bond that would supposedly keep her out of jail, but claimed her account wouldn’t be charged if she appeared in court in three weeks, according to police.

The woman’s bank company called shortly after she hung up and said more than $1,000 had been charged to her account in three transactions.

Phone scams involving law enforcement impersonators are common, police said, reminding residents that no legitimate government agencies request payments be made with gift cards and against giving personal information over the phone or internet unless they are initiating the transaction themselves.

Any resident who receives a call similar to these should hang up and call the police department for guidance prior to giving any information.