The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office put out a warning after a West Palm Beach grandmother was scammed out of her life’s savings through Facebook.The scammer posed as the woman’s Facebook friend and encouraged her to apply for a Social Security Administration grant.Deep Dive: WPBF 25 News InvestigatesThat grandmother, who only wants to be identified as Jane, said she wanted to use the money from that grant to make improvements to her condo and care for her daughter, who has Parkinson’s disease, but now she’s devastated from losing all of her savings and having her trust violated.“It’s cruel, it really is. That they take advantage,” Jane said.Jane is still trying to wrap her mind around what’s happened over the last couple of weeks.She says it all started with a Facebook message from her high school friend, Jerry.“He sent me a Facebook Messenger note that he had applied for a government grant, and he received $70,000 and it sounds like something I might be interested in. He gave me the agent’s information to contact, and I did,” Jane said.Trusting Jerry, Jane said she gave the so-called Social Security Administration agent named Bob Frank her personal information via email and learned she was qualified for a grant of up to $200,000. Then, he asked for the application and other nominal fees to be sent through the mail in cash.Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News“I said OK. I checked with Jerry, my friend, because I wasn’t sure about it. And he said, ‘Absolutely, you can trust him. Go ahead.’ And I sent $8,500 in cash,” Jane said. Jane said an attorney who was supposed to come to her home with papers for her to sign for the grant never showed, and then the agent asked for more money to cover what he says were Florida-specific fees, so she sent an additional $10,000 in cash. Jane said, “$7,000 out of one bank account. Plus, my $500 towards taxes. Plus, my grandkids $1,000 for Christmas fund. And then the $10,000 that I held aside that was emergency fund.”Jane said once more time passed, she realized she’d been scammed. She learned that the scammer hacked her good friend Jerry’s account to earn her trust and swindle her into giving them her cash.“That’s the scary part. Because now you don’t know who you’re talking to. And unfortunately, when you think it’s a friend, you give more information than you want to,” Jane said.The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has passed Jane’s case over to the FBI, which is now investigating.Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who believes they may be targeted by a similar scam to call its non-emergency number at 561-688-3400, their nearest law enforcement agency, or 911, if necessary.Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office put out a warning after a West Palm Beach grandmother was scammed out of her life’s savings through Facebook.
The scammer posed as the woman’s Facebook friend and encouraged her to apply for a Social Security Administration grant.
Deep Dive: WPBF 25 News Investigates
That grandmother, who only wants to be identified as Jane, said she wanted to use the money from that grant to make improvements to her condo and care for her daughter, who has Parkinson’s disease, but now she’s devastated from losing all of her savings and having her trust violated.
“It’s cruel, it really is. That they take advantage,” Jane said.
Jane is still trying to wrap her mind around what’s happened over the last couple of weeks.
She says it all started with a Facebook message from her high school friend, Jerry.
“He sent me a Facebook Messenger note that he had applied for a government grant, and he received $70,000 and it sounds like something I might be interested in. He gave me the agent’s information to contact, and I did,” Jane said.
Trusting Jerry, Jane said she gave the so-called Social Security Administration agent named Bob Frank her personal information via email and learned she was qualified for a grant of up to $200,000.
Then, he asked for the application and other nominal fees to be sent through the mail in cash.
Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News
“I said OK. I checked with Jerry, my friend, because I wasn’t sure about it. And he said, ‘Absolutely, you can trust him. Go ahead.’ And I sent $8,500 in cash,” Jane said.
Jane said an attorney who was supposed to come to her home with papers for her to sign for the grant never showed, and then the agent asked for more money to cover what he says were Florida-specific fees, so she sent an additional $10,000 in cash.
Jane said, “$7,000 out of one bank account. Plus, my $500 towards taxes. Plus, my grandkids $1,000 for Christmas fund. And then the $10,000 that I held aside that was [in an] emergency fund.”
Jane said once more time passed, she realized she’d been scammed. She learned that the scammer hacked her good friend Jerry’s account to earn her trust and swindle her into giving them her cash.
“That’s the scary part. Because now you don’t know who you’re talking to. And unfortunately, when you think it’s a friend, you give more information than you want to,” Jane said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has passed Jane’s case over to the FBI, which is now investigating.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who believes they may be targeted by a similar scam to call its non-emergency number at 561-688-3400, their nearest law enforcement agency, or 911, if necessary.
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