Wisconsin Police Department Warns Of New Bond Scam

If there's anything we've learned over the past few years, it is that scams do not stop or slow down for anyone! Even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, scammers did not let up and now the scams just keep coming.

There were many local scams in 2022 unrelated to the pandemic as well. For example, late last year, the Chaska Police Department warned locals of a jury duty scam. If you aren't used to being summoned for jury duty, it would be an easy one to fall for.

So how does the scam work? Scammers were calling people in the area and telling them they had to pay a fee because they missed jury duty! One Minnesotan fell for the scam and sent the scammer thousands of bucks via a mobile app.

There was even a scam involving Vikings tickets! The Savage Police Department, located just a few hours from the Twin Ports, warned Minnesotans to be cautious when purchasing tickets to see the football team in person, as there were many fake tickets being circulated thanks to scammers.

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While browsing on social media, I came across yet another scam that was being reported, this time in Wisconsin! The Cornell Police Department warned of the scam late last year and warned locals about it on Facebook.

The scam isn't anything too out of the ordinary but rather, a different take on a common scam! How does it work? It begins with a scammer calling a senior citizen via phone and posing as a member of law enforcement or as an attorney.

From there, the scammer tells the senior citizen that a member of their family has been arrested and they need thousands of dollars for a bond payment. According to the Cornell Police Department, the bond payment scammers request varies from ten to twenty-thousand dollars. Wow!

What makes this scam so scary is that from there, the scammer gets the address of the senior citizen and shows up at their house posing as a bond agent. From there, the scammer collects the payment and walks away, never to be seen again.

This scam makes it nearly impossible for scammers to be caught. They go to great lengths to create this ruse and show up at the home of the senior citizen, creating trust between the person on the other end of the line.

The Cornell Police Department says that if you receive a phone call like this, with someone claiming to be a member of law enforcement or an attorney, you should hang up and do some research of your own to verify that it is not a scam and that the person on the phone is who they say they are.

As a rule of thumb, do not give out any personal or banking information over the phone and never give money to someone without verifying and putting in the work to see if they are a real person and not a scammer!

This scam is especially harmful because it is targeting vulnerable senior citizens who may not know better or who may not know that an attorney or member of law enforcement won't ask for money like this over the phone. There are so many scams out there right now, it is always best to be overly cautious and save yourself a headache.

It should also be noted that this happened in Wisconsin but could really happen anywhere! All the scammer needs is someone to target and that person to answer the phone so stay alert. This scam could come to the Northland at any time.