SOUTHWICK/GRANVILLE – On Tuesday, the Granville Police Department received a call from an elderly woman who lives in town about someone trying to scam her. The caller informed the lady that her grandson had been arrested and she needed to transfer a certain sum of money in order for him to be released from jail.
Although this is the first report involving scams that the Granville Police have received in 2018, they dealt with multiple scams in 2017 and are fully aware of the scam artists.
“They call and they target elderly people and they try to extort money out of them,” said Granville Lt. Rick Rindels.
In order to help further educate residents and the elderly, the Granville Police is active on social media. Once they get a report of a scam in town, the police will post on their Facebook page, warning the community to look out for the calls and give them tips on how to not fall victim to it.
(WNG File Photo)
In Southwick, the police department receives reports of scam attempts on a weekly basis. While it’s been quite a while since the police have had a report of someone falling for a scam, Lt. Kevin Bishop added that the elderly do notify them about the issue.
“They’re just calling us to advise us that they’ve gotten these types of calls,” said Bishop. “They are an ongoing target.”
The Southwick Police also do an annual presentation at the Southwick Council on Aging, where they try to further educate seniors about scams and what to watch out for if they ever experience one.
Claire Kotowicz, who is a regular member of the Southwick Senior Center, said that police came to the center when she dealt with a scam.
Kotowicz was pleased to see officers come and talk to her about the scam.
“I think it’s good because then it makes them aware and their able to help us out and talk to us about being careful about what we do,” said Kotowicz.
Kotowicz said that an individual called her home and said that they were from the bank. At first, Kotowicz went along with the person’s questions, but then thought it could be a scam when she realized that no one from her bank has called her at night.
“I knew in my mind that nobody calls at night from the bank,” said Kotowicz.
Southwick Council on Aging Director Cindy Sullivan hears about any scam that her seniors face and is glad that the senior center is built like a community.
“We have really close relationships with the people here,” said Sullivan. “They will call us right away.”
If anyone receives a weird phone call or falls victim to a scam, contact the Southwick Police Department at 413-569-5348.
