An 81-year-old Ohio man has been indicted for murder after scammers tricked him into believing an innocent Uber driver was part of a kidnapping plot and he shot her at his home. The unbelievable incident happened last month in Clark County, Ohio.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said the man had received a call from scammers leading him to believe a relative was being held hostage and that his family was in danger unless he paid up.
The same scammers sent an Uber driver, Lo-Letha Hall, to his house to pick up a package. Cops say William Brock, 81, believed Hall was part of the kidnapping plot and threatened her with a gun. Officers say he took her phone and demanded to know who was behind the kidnapping.
When she tried to leave, he shot her. The two struggled, and he shot her three more times. Only then did Hall call 9-1-1. Hall later died at a hospital. Officials said Ms. Hall presented no threat to Mr. Brock.
I’ve warned you about so-called ‘grandparent’ scams where crooks call people and either impersonate their grandchildren or claim to be calling on behalf of a grandchild or it either injured or in some type of legal trouble and needs money immediately to pay for medical care, bail, or legal representation.
Of course, the victims’ grandchild is in no real danger. These thieves don’t even know for sure if you have grandchildren. For the most part, they just randomly target people.
Law enforcement is now warning people that these cons are broadening their attacks and putting an even sicker twist on this scam by claiming to have kidnapped children who will be harmed if the parents or grandparents don’t fork over cash right now.
One man paid $5,000 after receiving a call to his cell phone demanding payment for the return of his daughter. He withdrew the money from the bank and transferred it by wire to Mexico. This was before he received a call from his daughter who was just fine and hadn’t been kidnapped. Another family was told their child had been kidnapped from college. They were also instructed to send money to Mexico. This time the parents called the police who discovered their daughter was fine and were able to stop the transfer of the money.
The calls may have just been random or crooks might have been able to determine that the victims had kids by scanning social media sites. It’s likely these scammers weren’t even in the United States.
In another case, a Chinese exchange student was found hiding out in the woods after crooks convinced him they’d kidnapped his family back home and would harm them if he didn’t isolate in the woods. The crooks then hit his family up for $80,000 ransom.
Police say that you should never agree to pay a ransom. If you’re targeted by a scheme like this, even if you can verify your loved one is safe, call law enforcement.
These criminals are counting on a fear response. The same fear response that can make us click on phishing scams that claim our account has been hacked or respond to IRS scams. Take a minute. Take a breath. Don’t fall for it.
They all break my heart, but this one went beyond that. It is so hard to imagine people preying on the elderly as they do, but we see proof all too often.