Sun City woman reports theft of over $5,600 after pretend grandson calls from jail

A Sun City woman reported she was scammed out of $5,650 after a caller informed her that her grandson had been jailed and needed bail money.

The incident happened Dec. 20 at a Concession Oak Drive home and was reported the next day, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The woman told a deputy that a man who identified himself as Matthew Anderson called her from two different phone numbers. She said the caller told her that her grandson — whom he named — had been arrested and needed $5,650 to bond out of jail, the report said.

The woman then spoke to a person who claimed to be her grandson and asked her not to tell his parents, according to the report. The caller then provided the woman with a Bank of America account and requested that she deposit the money using money orders, the report said.

The woman went to a Publix grocery store to get the money orders and deposited the funds into the account under the name “Quick Bails Incorporated,” the report said.

Shortly after depositing the money, the woman believed that she had been scammed, according to the report. She said she called her grandson, who told her he was at work and had not been arrested.

The woman returned to Publix, but employees there refused to stop payment on the money orders, which she later learned had already been cashed, the report said.

No charges or arrests were listed in the report.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Sun City woman reports theft of over $5,600 after pretend grandson calls from jail."