YUMA, AZ - A pair of reported phone scams targeting an elderly man has local authorities concerned.
The Yuma County Sheriff's Office says an elderly man in Yuma got two.
The victim told YCSO the caller told him he had won money in a lottery and asked for $10,000 to collect his winnings.
In the second call, the scammer said he was with the FBI.
The victim was told he owed back taxes and would be arrested if he didn't send 12-thousand dollars in Money Pak cards.
YCSO says they are concerned this is a new scam and may catch unsuspecting people off guard.
"If they start to ask you to either wire money or to use the new Money Pak gift cards, absolutely 100 percent guaranteed, you're being scammed," said Captain Eben Bratcher, Yuma County Sheriff's office. "You give them that card, you mail it to them at a fictitious address, they provide or you give them the account number over the telephone, they can withdraw that money anywhere, and it's gone," he said.
Virtually untraceable, that's because Captain Bratcher says the calls came from Jamaica and phone scams are frequently conducted from outside the country.
He says the best thing to do if you think you're being scammed is simply hang up the phone.
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