Marion County Attorney Ed Bull tells KNIA/KRLS news that there is a new twist to a telephone scam that has been common in the past. In the past, the caller would pretend to be an attorney saying that a grandchild has been arrested and needs money for court fees, fines or bail. The “attorney” then sent a courier to retrieve the money. Now people trying to scam the elderly will say the grandchild was in an accident that caused injury to a third party. They will request the person withdraw a large sum of money, and await further instructions. In some cases the instructions will be to FedEx the money, or they will come to the person’s home to retrieve it.

Bull says the scammers are always modifying and changing the scams, so regardless of the wording the premise is the same–they want you to send money to them. He adds if you receive this type of phone call, hang up, and contact local law enforcement.