A 59-year-old Galesburg woman was bilked out of $8,900 in a phone scam on Thursday morning.
According to a police report, the woman reported to police that she received a phone call from a supposed U.S. Marshal named “Michael D. Robertson,” who told her she had a warrant for her arrest out of the state of Texas.
Another individual who called themselves “Kyle Williamson” told her that her fingerprints were found in a vehicle that was involved in a drug deal and murder investigation.
They convinced her to pull the money out of her savings and buy gift cards before the government froze the accounts.
While on the phone with the faux law enforcement officers, she bout $2,500 in Target gift cards and $6,400 in Sephora gift cards at both the National Boulevard and East Main Street Hy-vee Stores in Galesburg.
She read the card numbers to the people claiming to be U.S. Marshals.
She asked the scammers about her credit cards and “Williamson” responded that they would contact her Friday morning about them.
Feeling uneasy about the interaction, the woman did some research online, finding similar stories of scammers. She contacted the number for the Target gift cards and verified that they had already been redeemed.
Officers called the number the scammers called from getting a voicemail that said, “You’ve reached the justice, leave a message.”
The report indicates that the voice on the voicemail message had what was believed to be a Middle Eastern or Indian accent.
