PANAMA CITY BEACH -- The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a phone scam after a 75-year-old woman was recently defrauded of $23,000.
The woman received a phone call in which a man said her grandson had been arrested in Mexico, according to BCSO. Her grandson was in a car crash and drugs were found in his vehicle, the caller said. The woman was asked to wire money to an unknown recipient in Mexico City, Mexico.
Authorities later located the woman’s grandson working in Panama City Beach. He had never left the country.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in an investigation.
A variation of the scam, BCSO reported, involves an email. The email recipient is told their friend was robbed in a foreign country and needs money to return home.
The Sheriff’s Office is urging Bay County residents to be on guard if they receive such a phone call or email.