"You won!"

A Marengo resident sent the following message along to me this morning.

"The Marengo Police Department recently took a report for an attempted fraudulent practice scam targeting an elderly Marengo resident. This scam started with an unknown male subject calling the senior stating they had won several thousand dollars. However, the resident first needed to obtain a “Green Dot” financial product for $250 as part of the transaction fee to obtain the winnings. The subject stated they would be sending someone over, including the local police, to pick up the Green Dot product and drop off the prize money. The Marengo Police Department was notified of the potential scam and investigated the incident. The phone number originated from a Jamaican based company offering internet and VOIP services. When police spoke with the caller, the individual stated they were with the Better Business Bureau. Further discussion indicated the male caller had a foreign accent and was not familiar with the local geography even after stating he was located in Marengo. This incident was an obvious scam targeting the elderly population. Residents should be aware of these types of scams and should immediately contact their local law enforcement agency for follow up."

So, at this point,  I wonder if the Marengo Police attempted to actually catch the scammer or if they just warned him off with a phone call.

Did the PD send over an officer to hide in a bedroom when the messenger "including the local police" showed up?

Do you think some scammer in Jamaica is going to worry about a phone call from a police department? Ha! He'll just cross off that resident's phone number and dial the next one.

Come on, folks. Let's actually catch them, starting with the small fish that will come to the door.