Phone Scams Taking Thousands in Homestead

Nearly a dozen people in Homestead have already fallen prey to a scam in the last month alone, and all it took was just one phone call

It could happen to anyone. Nearly a dozen people in Homestead have already fallen prey to a scam in the last month alone, and all it took was just one phone call.

On the phone, the scammer will pretend to be a loved one in trouble on the other line like a grandson in jail, or a brother in the hospital.

Marjorie Doughty lost $9,000 to one of these scams. The Homestead grandmother gave it away to a stranger on the phone who was pretending to be her grandson locked up in a Canadian jail.

"He identified himself and started sobbing," Doughty said. "He said to send $5,000."

Doughty didn't send the money to Canada. Instead, she sent it to London and still didn't think anything was suspicious.

"My mind wasn't functioning," she said.

It sounds almost exactly like a story NBCMiami told you about a couple weeks ago. NBCMiami's sports producer Bernie Rosen lost more than $2,000 to the same scam.

This is not a new scam, but detectives said it is new to Homestead, and telling people about it is the only way to stop it. Detectives advise if the caller is pretending to be someone you know, contact that person or other family members yourself to ensure it really is them on the other line.

Then, take down as much information as you can during that phone call.

Unfortunately, detectives find these scammers are hard to catch because the crimes happen over the phone and the person on the other line is most likely in a different country.

Now, Doughty tries to have a sense of humor about it, but knows better and said it will never happen again.

"I still beat myself up over it," Doughty said. "How could I be so stupid?"

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