Oct 15, 2014 3 min read

An 86-year-old Peters Township woman is out $4,000 after bogus telephone calls convinced her she won a $600,000 prize from Publisher’s Clearing House, township police said.

The elaborate scam was reported by the woman and her daughter at 1:02 p.m. Oct. 15, but a majority of the telephone calls occurred the previous week.

The woman, who was not identified, said she received a call from a woman who claimed she was with the FBI and was investigating a case in which the woman won $600,000. The reason the FBI was involved, the caller told the woman, was that a Publisher’s Clearing House employee forged a false death certificate for the Peters Township resident and fled with the $600,000.

The female caller informed the elderly woman that the local police would call her to confirm the information, police said. Later, the township resident received a call with the caller identification showing it was from the Peters Township Police Department. The man on the phone identified himself as Capt. Michael Yanchak.

Since the woman found the call to be credible, she accepted a fax transmission at a local UPS store that requested $4,000 be sent to a foreign bank to cover processing. The money was sent. It was at that time, police said the woman’s daughter became involved and police were contacted.

“If it happened once, it will happen again,” Yanchak said Oct. 15. “If it happened at our police station, it will happen in other jurisdictions.”

He advises if a similar call is received, the potential victim should immediately call police at the number listed on the caller ID and ask to speak with the officer who identified himself or herself as the caller.

Yanchak said the recent incident involved at least four telephone calls over two days.

“If (the woman) would have called back to verify if the call was legitimate or not, they would have found out I wasn’t even in the office that day,” Yanchak said.

Those involved in the scam are “doing research” to determine those they are calling live alone, and have “spoofed” the local police telephone number and caller ID, he said.

If apprehended, the caller or callers could face charges of theft by deception, a felony because of the amount of money. The felony charge could result in a higher penalty because of the age enhancement, Yanchak said. Legislation states scamming anyone 60 or over may result in a stricter sentence. Those involved could also be charged with identity theft and impersonating a police officer, Yanchak said.

He urges anyone who receives a similar scam to verify the information.

“Stop and take the time to check everything out,” Yanchak said. By spoofing the correct telephone number of the police station, Yanchak said it is difficult to trace the original calling number.

“They should get police involved as soon as possible if they feel the call is not legitimate,” he said.