Scam Artists Target Elderly

Scam artists once again are targeting elderly residents of the Inland Northwest.

One north Spokane woman was bilked out of several thousand dollars Tuesday by a man posing as a bank examiner, sheriff’s deputies said.

The con man called the victim on the telephone claiming to be an official from her bank. He told her the bank was trying to catch an employee who was stealing money.

The scam artist then asked the woman to withdraw a large amount of cash from her account and give it to a bank security officer outside, who would redeposit the money.

She did as she was told, only to find out later that day that she had been defrauded, deputies said.

There were at least two other incidents Tuesday where older residents in Spokane and North Idaho were contacted by phone and asked to turn over money, authorities said.

In one case, a man claiming to be an elderly woman’s grandson demanded $1,000 so he could bail out of jail, deputies said. The woman refused to go along with the scam, and the man hung up.

Detectives warn elderly residents to be wary of people calling and asking for money and to check out any “investigation” that may involve their bank accounts.

People who think they have been victimized in the latest rash of telephone scams should call Crime Check, 456-2233.

, DataTimes