A MOTHER thought she was helping her daughter in distress when she sent thousands of dollars, now she realizes it was all a scam.
The Pennsylvania woman received a call from a person claiming to be her daughter, sobbing on the other end of the line.
“We are parents, we know our daughter, we know the sound of her voice, we know her voice patterns and we know her crying, and I swear to you that sobbing sounded exactly like my son,” the mother told the ABC affiliate. WPVI-TV.
Another person claimed to be a police officer, telling the woman and her husband that their daughter had been arrested for a violent accident involving her son-in-law and grandchildren.
The scammer said the accident killed the baby of a pregnant woman who was in the other car.
The couple said they received another call from someone claiming to be a “court appointed attorney” who said they needed to send thousands of dollars to bail their daughter out of jail.
To help their daughter, the couple sent around US$34,000 through supposed couriers who went to her home.
Each time, the parents sent the couriers $17,000.
“I can’t even begin to explain how devastating and unbearable this is,” the mother told the outlet.
After handing over the money, the couple received a call from their son-in-law and it was then that they realized it was all a hoax.
Parents called police who are now investigating the incident.
“Some of our most vulnerable people are victims on a regular basis,” said Warwick Township Police Chief Mark Goldberg.
“We’re a small town. We see this, if not weekly, monthly, where some member of our community has lost thousands of dollars by falling victim to one of these scams,” he added.
The department said it is educating people on how to avoid these criminals.
“If they are informed and they have information and they understand the specific scenario, because that specific scenario has happened here before, then they can recognize it for what it is and know that it is a hoax,” Goldberg said.
O police The chief is asking residents to be careful when receiving strange phone calls and hopes they can recognize when someone is trying to scam them.
“You have to be suspicious. It’s unfortunate, but this is our world. You have to be suspicious,” Goldberg said.
“You have to be vigilant and really take care of yourself.”
In these cases, it is unlikely that the victim will obtain his money Back, however, Goldberg says they are working on unexpected leads in the case.
Meanwhile, parents speak out hoping this doesn’t happen to other people.
“We never thought this could happen to us. We know better, we know better, we know better,” said the mother.
“If we can save someone from going through this, that’s why we decided to do this.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story