Mt. Washington 86-year-old woman with dementia scammed out of thousands
By Daisy Kershaw
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CINCINNATI (WLWT) — A disturbing and dangerous scam cost a Mt. Washington grandmother with dementia $10,000.
Cincinnati police said the scammers drove the woman to her bank to withdraw the cash. Her family says it’s a miracle she made it home safely.
Cincinnati police are now looking for a man accused of driving the woman from her Mt. Washington home to her bank.
It started Wednesday with a chilling call and ended with her handing over thousands in cash.
“Yesterday I got a call from my mom, and she just seemed really upset,” said daughter Margie Massie, “She said, you can’t tell anybody, something really awful happened. I’m like ‘mom, what happened?'”
Massie explained how her mother was tricked by scammers. They called saying her grandson was arrested after getting into an accident, which never actually happened.
“They said they need $8,500 to get him out of jail, and it was his lawyer, and so I gave them the money,” Massie recalled her mom saying.
“I said, ‘well how did you give them the money?’ Because she doesn’t drive. I said, ‘did you write them a check? What happened?’ And she said no, they came and picked me up and took me to the bank.”
That’s when she broke the news to her mom that she had been scammed.
Massie says her mom is hard of hearing and vulnerable.
Massie is questioning how her mother was not flagged for taking out the $10,000.
“So, I went back to the bank today and I said she cannot take out any money without one of her five children with her, so they flagged her account,” said Massie. “I said you know, this really shouldn’t have happened in the first place she’s never taken that much cash out.”
Massie is now sharing a warning she hopes anyone with older parents, heeds.
“Talk to your parents and say, hey, listen, for this scam, if they say a person that you know or a loved one that you know, make sure you call someone before you go out and do this,” she said.
Cincinnati Police say they are investigating this case.
Massie’s mother told police the man who drove her was in a black sedan, wearing a nice suit, had dark hair and a mole on his face.
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