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The Mt. Carmel Police are receiving complaints of a phone scam targeting the elderly.
Although this is not new, the Mt. Carmel Police have noticed a rise in this particular scam. In this scam, the caller will contact an elderly person and claim to be their grandchild who is in need of money.
The caller will tell the victim they are in either trouble with the police or need medical attention. In almost every case the caller is out of the country visiting Canada or Mexico. The caller will sometimes have a second person get on the phone and that person pretends to be an official with the United States Government.
Every call is a little different but each require the elderly person to send money outside of the United States.
Many of the times the alleged victim is not even outside of the United States.
The alleged victim will ask the elderly person not to contact another family member because they are afraid that family member will become upset.
Should you receive a phone call similar to this, try to get a call back number and call the local police.
Whatever you do, do not transfer money outside of the United States.
Once the money is outside of the United States there is little that law enforcement can do to recover it.
Another situation brought to the attention of the Mt. Carmel Police is an individual soliciting business as a licensed private investigator. The State of Illinois requires private investigators to be registered with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
If anyone has been approached or if someone has presented themselves as a private investigator working on cases in Wabash County, please contact the Mt. Carmel Police Department at (618) 262-4114. If you have concerns whether or not a person is licensed in the State of Illinois, you can visit the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation website.