An elderly Palos Hills resident lost $788,000 in a phone scam that’s under investigation, according to the Palos Hills Police Department.
Police said the victim was targeted over the course of several phone calls by an unknown suspect or suspects.
“There were multiple scams organized utilizing BitCoin, the sending of Cashier’s Checks, and the purchasing of gold,” a Dec. 29 news release said.
Palos Hills police declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
On the same day, another phone scam was reported in Palos Hills where a victim was contacted by someone claiming to be a representative of Chase Bank, police said. That victim lost $19,000 when the supposed bank representative told them that they needed to send money to verify they weren’t involved in fraud.
Such fraud scams are common in the area. The Daily Southtown reported in November that a New Lenox man lost $235,000 in an online scam involving fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
The victim in that case had transferred funds from his cryptocurrency wallet to a website where he was told to make an account by a person who contacted him over text. Once the funds were transferred, he was locked out of the account.
Scams targeting elderly people for large amounts of money are on the rise nationally, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission. In particular, older victims are more likely to lose money in amounts exceeding $100,000 from scams, as scammers target retirees’ life savings.
“From 2020 to 2024, the number of reports from older adults who lost $10,000 or more to these scams increased more than fourfold,” the report said. “When older adults reported losing more than $100,000, the trend was even more striking: during the same period, the number of reports increased nearly sevenfold, and the combined reported losses went up eightfold.”
Older adults’ vigilance about protecting their savings can be the very thing that makes them vulnerable to scams, the report said, because scammers frequently use security alerts and other false alarms to create a sense of urgency around a problem that the victim can fix by sending money.
Palos Park, which neighbors Palos Hills, has been proactive in attempting to warn residents, particularly seniors, about the risks of scams and how to recognize them. The median age in Palos Park is 58, according to the 2020 census. Palos Park police Chief Joe Miller was the target of an arrest warrant scam in 2021, where a caller claims to have a warrant out for the victim’s arrest.
The Federal Trade Commission advised people to never move money in response to an unexpected text or phone call, and to hang up and call back to a verified number if contacted by someone claiming to be from a bank or government agency.
elewis@chicagotribune.com
