Location: 56 Lake Shore Drive, Stafford VA
Time: 3/11 9:34 a.m.
A fraud complaint was reported Wednesday morning on Lake Shore Drive after a resident said they were targeted by a text-message scam. Deputy Pitts responded to the call and learned the victim had received messages appearing to come from their child, who was supposedly dealing with an emergency.
According to the report, the messages instructed the victim to withdraw money and send it to the suspect. After making the initial withdrawal and transfer, the victim contacted their bank, which was able to stop any additional transactions from going through.
The bank also provided credit counseling and warned the victim about signs commonly associated with scams of this kind.