NEW: Elderly Sioux Falls woman scammed out of $16,000
June 24, 2021
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.–An elderly Sioux Falls woman was scammed out of $16,000 this week.
Police spokesman Sam Clemens says the woman received a call on Monday afternoon from someone claiming that her son had been involved in a car accident and was in jail.
The caller asked the woman for $8,000, saying that was half of what was needed to pay the car rental company for the damages to her son’s vehicle.
He said that the other half of the payment would be taken care of by a friend of her son.
She complied and mailed the $8,000 in cash to an address in California.
The next day, the scammer called her again and said that the friend of her son who was supposed to pay the other half of the owed money did not pay, so they needed her to pay that as well.
She again complied, mailing another $8,000 to a different address in California for a total of $16,000.
Clemens reiterated the importance of verifying the stories of these scammers before doing what they ask.