Phone Scam Tricks Illinois Man Into Sending $20,000

Scams have really been amping up lately around Illinois, but this has to be one of the saddest to be a victim of.

A man in New Lenox, Illinois got a phone call from someone pretending to be his son/daughter—they were crying, scared, and said they'd been in a car accident and were sitting in jail after the crash.

If you got this call, right off the bat you'd definitely go save your kid, right?

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Well, the phone was completely fabricated.  The scammed on the other end had the child's "attorney" get on the phone to instruct the dad how to get his child out of jail.  He needed to a Coinbase machine at Jewel-Osco and send $20,000 in cryptocurrency to bail his kid out of jail.

In the moment, I'm totally sure this sounded so reasonable.  Any parent would do anything to make sure their kid is safe!

After he sent the $20,000 in cryptocurrency, he gets a call from his kid saying they're totally fine and had no idea what he was even talking about when he asked about the car accident and jail.

That's when the heartbreaking reality hit—he had been scammed.

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They contacted police and they're currently investigating.  $20,000 is a huge loss, especially when it's taken from you when you're in such a vulnerable state of mind.  You're already in a panic mode, and then you're emptying your bank account thinking you're doing something good.

It's really sad what scammers do these days just to make a penny.  Let this be a reminder—if you ever get a call like this, take a second, breathe, and check the phone number.  If it's your kid calling from a random phone number, make sure to call their real number first to check in.  Don't be a victim of this horrible scam, stay cautious.