An 89-year-old Saline County woman is out $11,000 in cash after someone pulled a grandson-in-jail scam on her.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning that the woman had received a long distance call on Friday from someone claiming that her grandson had been involved in an accident in a government vehicle. The caller also claimed that the accident was the grandson's fault and that he needed $11,000 in cash to be bailed out of jail, Soldan said.
The woman didn't check to make sure that the call was legitimate because her grandson does work for the Bureau of Land Management and the caller knew her grandson's name, Soldan explained.
According to Soldan, the woman went to the bank, withdrew $11,000 in cash, and then called the person to tell him she had the cash. The man told her that someone named "Brian Hill" would stop by her residence to pick up the cash, Soldan said.
Having someone stop by and pickup the cash is highly unusual, Soldan said. Usually, the money is transfered to an account, he explained.
The woman told deputies that a white male approximately 5'2", 130 pounds with pepper hair and brown eyes and wearing a hat, dark pants, and a t-shirt arrived in a white SUV to pick up the money, Soldan said. Because the man backed the SUV from her residence when he left, the woman was unable to see a license tag, he added.