The Greenfield Police thwarted a would-be scam last week at a local business. According to the police report posted to Facebook, an elderly man was being pushed to purchase several hundred dollars in gift cards after the scammer told him that a vehicle in Texas was registered to him and had a large amount of narcotics in it. The scammer told him that he would have to send the several hundred dollars worth of gift cards to avoid having a warrant out for his arrest.
The local business refused to sell the gift cards and alerted police. Police were able to speak to the scammer over the phone, and after the scammer discovered they were talking to police, promptly hung up. Chief of Police John Goode says in the post that threats of warrants from out of state are never legitimate if they come over the phone. He says local law enforcement will always be the first point of contact in any extradition case. Goode also says that if you are worried that a family member is in jail out of state, to also contact local law enforcement. The Greenfield Police also say that these scams always more than likely prey on the elderly and are very intimidating over the phone. GPD urges the public to never agree to purchase gift cards or send money to anyone over the phone in these cases.
Greenfield Police thanked the unnamed business for watching out for the elderly man who likely would have had several hundred dollars stolen in the incident.