Full Notification

An elderly Lower Macungie Township woman contacted Macungie Police to report she received a call from an unknown person who stated police had arrested her nephew. The woman was given instructions from the caller to send money to pay for his bail.

The LMT resident detailed the following accounts. Her nephew, whom they provided the name of, was a passenger in a vehicle that had been stopped by police and the operator allegedly had several felony warrants out for his arrest. She was told police searched the vehicle and discovered illegal narcotics and took her nephew into custody for the possession charge. The woman was instructed to go to a nearby pharmacy and purchase a total of $2,000.00 worth of specific prepaid cards to bail her nephew out of jail. The woman complied and as she was attempting to purchase the prepaid cards she was questioned by the cashier at the pharmacy. The woman was talked out of completing the transaction and advised to report the incident to police. The woman left the pharmacy without making the purchase and after a few calls she quickly realized her nephew was actually at his workplace and not in any trouble.

Luckily for this LMT resident the pharmacy employee knew of this type of scam. The employees suggestions ended up saving her the $2,000.00 loss.

This type of scam has been circulating for a long time. The scammers are not only preying on elderly residents but they also convey the need for urgency to keep people from checking the stories they are told over the phone. Once this kind of transaction is made, the scammer will have the victim call back with the PIN numbers on the prepaid cards and immediately transfer the funds to a different account. By the time a victim realizes they were scammed it is often too late to stop the prepaid card or cash in the card.

Please forward this message on to your family members so they don't become the next scam victim.