On Monday, June 13, 2022, police officers from the New Castle County Division of Police were dispatched to multiple phone scams, officials said Wednesday.
Authorities said at approximately 3:00 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of Kenwood Road in the community of Oak Hill, for the report of a fraud complaint. When the officers arrived, they learned that the 90-year-old female victim received a phone call from someone pretending to be her granddaughter. The subject pretending to be her granddaughter told her that she was involved in a car crash and needed bail money for release. The victim then spoke to a person pretending to be her granddaughter’s lawyer. This second subject told the victim to obtain $15,000.00 cash from her bank and a “Deputy” would respond to her residence for pickup. Soon after, a white male with a goatee wearing a brown shirt and hat, sunglasses, and a yellow reflector vest came to the victim’s residence and took the cash from the victim.
At 3:30 p.m., officers were also dispatched to the 600 block of Beaver Falls Place in the community of Little Falls Townhouses for a similar incident. When the officers arrived, they learned that the 88-year-old-victim was contacted by a subject pretending to be his daughter. This subject was very emotional and stated that she was in jail. He then received a second call from a subject who stated that his granddaughter would need $18,000 to bail out of jail. The subject then stated that he would be sending someone by to pick up the cash. He placed the money in an envelope, and it was picked up by a black female in her mid-20’s-early 30s, wearing a blue, pink, and paisley shirt with a black Adidas hat, a black face mask, and black sunglasses.
At 4:04 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 700 block of Foulkstone Road, in the community of Sharpley. When they arrived, they learned that the 83-year-old victim was contacted by a subject pretending to be his granddaughter. An identical plot was given to this victim, and he retrieved $18, 000. When the runner arrived, the victim asked for the subject’s ID. When he refused the victim kept the money and shut the door in the subject’s face. The subject was approximately 6′ tall, white male weighing approximately 250 pounds. He was wearing a baseball-style hat that was dark in color, with brown khaki pants, and appeared to be 30-40 years of age.
At 7:50 p.m., officers investigated another case located at the unit block of Rockwood Drive, in the community of Meadowood. When the officers arrived, they learned that this 87-year-old victim was given an identical story that was given earlier. This victim gave the suspect $9,000.00 cash. The suspect that responded to this victim’s residence was a black female wearing all black clothing and a black face mask.
If you have any information related to these investigations or can identify the suspects in these photos, please contact Det Adam Weldon at (302)395-8171 or [email protected].