Police Beat: Scam Artist Bilks Elderly Woman Out of Thousands

An unknown scam artist bilked an 82-year-old Menomonee Falls woman out of nearly $5,000, and used her grandson as leverage.

According to reports from the , and unknown person convinced the woman to transfer $4,600 to a person in Lima, Peru. The suspect told the woman that her grandson was in legal troubles, and the money would help resolve those problems.

Unfortunately, the woman discovered her grandson was home and was not in any financial trouble.

Also in the reports:

• At 5:32 p.m. Saturday a 63-year-old Lannon man was found unresponsive inside his vehicle parked at Woodman’s, W124N8145 Hwy. 145, due to a drug overdose. He was transported to Community Memorial Hospital and later to the Waukesha County Mental health.
• A suspect driving a maroon four-door vehicle stole $35.96 worth of gasoline from the C-Store, N48W18028 Lisbon Rd. The incident occurred at 5:15 p.m. March 8 and matches a previous gas drive-off that occurred at Pilgrim Petro.
• Between 5 p.m. March 8 and 6:45 a.m. March 9, an unknown person stole a 96-gallon recycling cart from the front of a residence on the W15000 block of Countryside Dr. The cart was more than half filled with aluminum cans, and the homeowner believes that’s why it was stolen.
• At 4:39 p.m. March 8, a unknown male pumped $35.92 worth of gasoline and left without paying. The man first used a credit card to prepay for 21 cents of gasoline then pumped the rest without paying.
• A store employee discovered a bag of marijuana in the first aisle of the cosmetic section at 5:03 p.m. March 7. The employee immediately turned the bag over to security. Police were unable to determine who dropped the bag based on surveillance footage.