Jail Scam With Local Twist Costs Rochester Woman Thousands

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester resident is thousands of dollars after falling victim to a jail scam that had a local twist.

Get our free mobile app

That’s according to Rochester Police Captain Casey Moilanen. He said Monday that the scam was reported to police on Friday. The victim, described as an 87-year-old woman, told police she got a call from a person claiming to be her son, who lives in Colorado on Thursday.

The caller told the woman he was in a car accident and that insurance would cover the repairs. He also gave her the phone number of an attorney.

Tero Vesalainen

Moilanen said the initial caller spent considerable time gaining the woman’s trust and the woman then called the attorney’s phone number and was told her son was in jail for striking a pregnant woman with his vehicle and that she needed to pay $18,000 to bail him out of jail.

thinkstock

The attorney spent time convincing the woman her son was in legitimate trouble and she eventually went to her bank to withdraw the money. Moilanen said later in the day a man described by the woman as a black adult male, who was concealed by clothing and a medical facemask, showed up at her home and took the money.

Ingram Publishing

He left the home on foot and the woman said she did not see a vehicle parked on the street. The woman said she grew suspicious of the calls and transactions and called the attorney’s number that night.

The attorney said the pregnant woman her son hit with a vehicle had lost her baby. The woman then called her son who confirmed he was not in jail and not involved in a car accident.

Moilanen said the callers had accurate information about the victim's family and that the first caller sounded like her son. He said scammers can obtain family information from social media and that scammers can use artificial intelligence to take someone’s voice from a social media video and manipulate it to say what they want during a phone call.

Moilanen also said an individual showing up at a scam victim’s house stands out in the case but doesn’t necessarily mean the calls originated in the Rochester area or even Minnesota.

He advises anyone who gets a call regarding a jailed family member to either contact that family member or the county jail mentioned in the call to ensure the situation is legitimate.