Scam costs Longboat Key man $2,450

A Longboat Key man was defrauded of $2,450 after he transferred money to a man who allegedly claimed to be an attorney representing his grandson.

According to a Nov. 23 police report, the victim received multiple phone calls from a man who said his name was Alan Steinberg and claimed to need $2,450 to pay for court costs that the victim’s grandson incurred for a criminal violation. The caller requested that the man transfer the money immediately via Western Union to a Brooklyn, N.Y. address in order for the violation to remain “confidential.” The caller asked the man to transfer funds to Tracy Francis, who was supposedly the clerk handling court proceedings.

The report states that the man withdrew the money in cash and sent the money with help from his caregiver at 1:54 p.m. Nov. 23. An unknown subject picked up the money at 4:02 p.m. that day at a Brooklyn location.

The man’s caregiver became increasingly suspicious of the incident and called Western Union around 4:10 p.m. in an attempt to cancel the transfer. The victim and his caregiver also called police at 4:06 p.m.

The report states that the suspects “were knowledgeable of personal information that only persons close to the family would know.”

Police advised the man to check his financial accounts for possible fraudulent activity and forwarded information, including copies of the Western Union transfer, to the police department’s detective bureau.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].