Apr 15, 2016 1 min read

Waynesburg Police Chief Rob Toth is warning residents about an increase in phone and internet scams targeting seniors living in the Greene County area.

He said in the past few weeks he’s dealt with three cases where someone with a foreign accent called an older person and tried to trick them into sending large amounts of money.

“I don’t know if it’s the weather or that it’s springtime now, but it just seems like we’re getting more of these calls lately,” Toth said.

One woman, who was targeted on Facebook, sent $7,000 because she was told she would receive $100,000 in return, Toth said.

Another woman was told that her granddaughter was in jail and needed money for bail.

Toth said he called one phone number back, and warned the voice on the other line to “cut it out, I’m the police.”

“They hung up right away,” he said.

Toth said he’s telling people not to send money or donations to anyone they don’t know and to call the police if they suspect someone is trying to scam them.