CASSOPOLIS — Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood Jr. is warning the public about a telephone scam that some Cass County citizens have received involving a person claiming to be a relative saying they need bail money to get out of jail.
The person will call the victim or target and claim to be their grandchild, niece or nephew, depending on what level of information they have on the family.
In some cases, another person gets on the phone claiming to be a lawyer, a bail bondsman, a deputy or an official from the jail to further convince the victim the scam is legitimate.
The money is sent to a Western Union office out of the area.
The scam artist then contacts the office as soon as they find out the money was sent and requests that money be forwarded to another location.
This can be done because the scammer now has the transaction code and dollar amount.
The money is usually furthered out of the country.
One thing that makes the scam convincing, aside from family knowledge (usually gained from Internet sources or a Facebook post), is the person does not have a discernable foreign accent, as is often the case with out-of-country scams.
Underwood says that the quickest or easiest way to find out if a family member has been jailed is to contact another relative.
Since the scam is usually against older family members claiming to be grandchildren, the easiest way to verify this is by contacting one of the adult child’s parents.
The Federal Trade Commission has good information at its Web site, www.ftc.gov on how to avoid these and other scams.
A specific Web site for money transfers is  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/moneymatters/scam-watch-wiring-money.shtml.
Some of the lessons learned are listed here: Never wire money to strangers or someone you haven’t met in person. That includes:
Sellers who insist on wire transfers for payment.
An online love interest who asks for money or a favor.
Someone advertising an apartment or vacation rental online.
A potential employer or someone who says it’s part of your new online job.
Someone who claims to be a relative or friend in dire straits — often in a foreign jail or hospital — and wants to keep it a secret from the family.