It’s a scam law enforcement everywhere is constantly warning against: You get a phone call from someone who says he or she is with a sheriff’s office or police department, and they need you to wire them “X” amount of dollars for bail money for a relative. The bottom line of course is that they are a con artist because the legal system doesn’t work that way.
Well, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) reported Wednesday that a Gainesville woman lost $10,000 last month because of just such a scam. And an Atlanta man has now been arrested and charged with theft by receiving for his part in the con.
HCSO NARRATIVE:
“The (sheriff’s office’s) Protective Transport Unit took custody of Addae Elijah Bahati on Friday afternoon…at the Atlanta City Detention Center and brought him to the Hall County Jail to face the local charge. He’s being held without bond.
The victim reported the Jan. 9 scam to deputies on Jan. 13. According to the initial investigation, the victim, 55, received a call from someone claiming to be with another sheriff’s office in northeast Georgia. The victim’s son was in jail.
During a series of calls from individuals claiming to be in law enforcement, callers directed her to different locations to withdraw cash and make transactions using a digital payment service and prepaid cards to secure her son’s release. At the direction of one of the callers, she met with a man in a grocery store parking lot to provide the cash she withdrew.
The victim realized it was a scam when her son’s release was not secured after the payments (but by then she was “out” about $10,000.)
The “sheriff’s office) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began working on the case. Using evidence from the transactions and calls, investigators developed information leading to Bahati as the recipient of approximately $2,000 of the victim’s stolen money.
SIU continues to investigate the case.”