JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. -- A 75-year-old grandmother from Johnson County is out $11,000 after she fell victim to a phone scam.
Deputies with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department say the woman got a call Wednesday morning from a man who identified himself as Sergeant Watson with the Miami, Florida police department.
The caller said the woman's grandson and two other family members had been arrested in Miami and she needed to send bond for their release.
Another man got on the phone and said, "Grandma, do you know who this is? This is your favorite grandson."
'Sergeant Watson' told the woman to get a $4,000 gift card from Target and call him back with the card number to post bond for her three family members.
The woman bought two cards for $2000 each, called the man back and gave him the card numbers along with their access codes.
The scammer then told her the State of Florida required a $3,000 lawyer fee before the three could be released.
She again got a Target gift card and called the man back.
On Thursday, the scammer called again and said police found a handgun in her grandson's car and an additional $4,000 bond would be needed.
Two more gift cards were purchased but the woman was told by the scammer she would also have to pay the $3,000 lawyers fee again.
This time she went to the bank to get the money but officials there were suspicious and questioned her about why she needed it, then they called her son.
When the woman went to report the scam at the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, she received three different calls from a blocked number on her cell phone.
A deputy answered the fourth call and the scammer hung up. He called back again 10 minutes later and the deputy again answered. The scammer did not call again.
The woman was advised to change her home and cell phone numbers because the scammer and others would likely try to contact her again.
