Warning Issued After Fairfield County Woman Loses Thousands In Phone Scam

After a Glenville woman was scammed out of $2,500, Greenwich police are warning residents with elderly family members to advise them to ask for help if they receive phone calls or emails asking for money

An elderly woman was ripped off for $2,500 by a telephone scammer.
Photo Credit: *Yonkers Police Department*

Kathy Reakes

03/20/2018 11:39 a.m.

The woman was promised $500,000 by a scammer who called and told her she had won a sweepstake but to collect the money, she needed to send a check for $2,500, which, unfortunately, she did. A family member found out about the scam and reported it to police.

“The message is pretty simple if it sounds too good to be true, it is,” said police Lt. David Nemecek. "If you win something no one is going to ask you for money."

Nemecek added that includes "official looking government emails."

"Elderly people tend to take government contact seriously and they need to know that the IRS and most government agencies never contact them by email or phone, it's always by mail," he added.

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