October 25, 2025
Scam Alert: Woman Defrauded Of $15,000 In Elaborate Hoax
CLEVELAND COMMUNITY – The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a scam that cost a local woman $15,000 in cash.
A 61-year-old woman recently fell victim to fraud after receiving a phone call from someone posing as a Wells Fargo employee. The caller claimed that someone was attempting to withdraw money from her personal bank account and suggested that a bank employee might be involved.
The scammer instructed the woman to visit her bank, withdraw $15,000 in cash, and place it in an envelope without touching the money, saying it was needed to collect fingerprints.
Following the instructions, the woman complied and was directed to meet someone in the parking lot of the Dollar General on Cleveland Road. There, she handed the envelope to an unidentified Black male driving a Toyota Prius with front-end damage. He took the cash and drove away.
The woman reported the incident to authorities a few hours later. The sheriff’s office confirmed that an investigation is underway, but no arrests have been made.
Law enforcement urges residents to be cautious and skeptical of unsolicited phone calls involving personal banking information. Legitimate financial institutions will never ask customers to withdraw money for investigative purposes or meet strangers to hand over cash.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
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Lord have mercy 🙄 Where has common sense gone?
My thoughts exactly
WOW $15k, you can get fingerprints off one twenty dollar bill. If you are gullible enough to believe you are helping a bank catch a thief. Wow just Wow.
Amen
Elaborate hoax?? Nope, that’s just plain old dumb.
The money mule will probably take his 10% and send the rest to the scammer in India using Bitcoin. I say India because most scams of this nature originate there.
I will say it again…….The criminal scammers will not stop until EVERYONE stops falling for their scams! Their favorite prey is older people with cognitive issues. But everybody with a phone is likely to be called by them. We just need to scream from the rooftops about all the scams going on. YouTube has lots of channels dedicated to scams. “TrixieTricks” is a good one and of course, Kitboga.
Who has that kind of.money to just jamd over in the dg parking lot…..@61 years old if you worked and save how could you just hand it over?? A fool.and their money soon part. I said what I said.
what color was the prius??
I don’t feel sorry for anyone who falls victim to these scams. If you’re stupid enough to listen to random people who want money, you deserve it.