Women scammed in Arlington Hts., Buffalo Grove

Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove police report that women recently were scammed through mail and telephone schemes.

An Arlington Heights woman lost $4,500 after she received an email inviting her to be a secret shopper. The thieves sent her eight money orders. She was instructed to deposit the money orders and wire $1,500 for each money order. She cashed six of the money orders and sent $1,500 for one money order Oct. 29 and $3,000 for two money orders Nov. 1. Her bank then notified her that the money orders were fakes.

A Buffalo Grove resident wired $1,000 to a scammer after she received a phone call around 10 a.m. Nov. 9 from a man claiming to be a police sergeant in Mexico City. He said her grandson had been arrested and she needed to send $2,000 to secure his release. She told the caller she only had $1,000. He said that was enough. The woman talked with her daughter the following day and discovered that the grandson was not in Mexico.