Two suspects in a “grandparent scam” in Hastings were arrested in Eden Prairie last week.
Hastings police received a crime alert Wednesday morning, Jan. 26, from Savage police of a person who possibly was running a grandparent scam in the community about 30 miles southeast of Eden Prairie.
According to a police statement, this involves scammers calling an elderly person pretending to be a grandchild in serious legal trouble and needing cash for bail.
That afternoon Hastings police responded to a report of a resident swindled out of $18,000 through such a scam. The elderly victim sent an additional $25,000 cash at a UPS Store. Police were able to intercept the $25,000, and it was returned.
With help from the Eden Prairie and Woodbury police departments, Hastings police identified a suspect’s vehicle parked at a hotel in Eden Prairie.
Police arrested one suspect in the vehicle at the Eden Prairie Walmart and another one at the hotel.
Both were booked into custody at the Dakota County Jail for felony theft by swindle. They are awaiting formal charges by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.
Hastings police stated in a press release that the grandparent scam is prevalent in the U.S. Law enforcement warns against giving strangers personal information or cash/gift cards without verifying the information with a trusted loved one.
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