Scammers target families of jailed loved ones demanding payments for release

FOX 2: Oakland County, MichiganAccording to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, a scam has taken a new turn in which scammers pretend to be law enforcement in an attempt to obtain an instant payment.

Here, callers posing as “Sgt. Franklin” are contacting families who actually had a loved one imprisoned at the Oakland County Jail as recently as Sunday.To get their loved one out of jail, they are requesting the money.

According to the sheriff’s office, Sgt. Franklin does not exist and, even if they did, they would never call or text someone requesting payment in exchange for any kind of assistance.

In each case, the impostor sergeant promises the unwary individual that if they post bond through him using Bitcoin, a QR code he gives, and a phone number to call, he may free a loved one from jail.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard advises ignoring it or hanging up if it occurs to you. Investigators think scammers are completing their homework by looking up the list of jail inmates online, which is openly accessible, and then using more research to link them to a relative.

In one case, the fraudster texted an inmate’s mother to inform her that her son was incarcerated and that he needed to talk to her about some requirements her son would have while on bond.

After that, the mother called the con artist, who told her to take out $1,200 from her bank account and visit a Troy grocery store.

The con artist then called her and offered her thorough instructions on how to use a Bitcoin machine to send the money. The con artist ceased answering her texts once the deal was finished. She subsequently learned that her son had been freed from prison before the deal.

In two more cases, the victims thought they had paid the bond in good faith and brought receipts from their transaction with the con artists to the county jail.

Sheriff’s Office only accepts cash bonds at the jail bonding window, jail deputies informed them. The four victims gave the con artists a total of $6,400.

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