Janesville police helped an elderly woman recover three thousand dollars, after a con artist posing as the woman’s grandson called her and said he needed bail money wired to Canada. She had already wired the money, but the manager who set up the transfer inadvertently wrote down the wrong country code. Thanks to that error, police were able to recover the money.
Officer Valerie Southwick said the woman realized it was a scam when the con artists kept calling, saying they hadn’t received the money. When she called her actual grandson, he was in Michigan, not a Canadian jail. The calls came from an untraceable cell phone in Quebec. Southwick said it made her Christmas to be able to help recover the money.
Officer Valerie Southwick (:12) AUDIO: Officer Valerie Southwick (:12 MP3)
Beth Wheelock, WCLO
