The Southbury Police Department is raising awareness of scams circulating in neighboring states.  over the last several weeks, law enforcement agencies have received reports of so-called “grandparent” scams defrauding elderly victims out of several thousand dollars. 

Southbury Police have investigated similar scams in the past. 

Scammers are contacting victims by phone and are told that a family member needs bail money resulting from a fictitious claim that the family member was arrested, usually out of state. In some instances, suspects have identified themselves with true names of local police officers to gain credibility. 

Although this is a common scam, the suspects in the recent cases tell victims that they will send a courier to pick up the money at the victim’s residence or at a location nearby.  Southbury Police say no law enforcement agency will send a courier for bond money and will not ask for gift cards that can be redeemed over the phone to bond someone out.  Anyone who receives a suspicious request similar to this, is asked to contact Southbury Police before doing anything.

If a person is arrested, Southbury Police say the only way to bond them out is to do so in person at the police department. 

Some victims have made several incremental drops to the suspects. Phone numbers provided by suspects have not returned any credible information. To date, the suspects have accumulated over $100,000.00 from victims.