Milton Man's Doubts Keep Him from Being Scammed

A Creek Road resident didn't trust the story a man told him over the phone on Aug. 21 about his brother being involved in a vehicle accident in south Florida. It's a good thing, too, as his brother later confirmed he wasn't in Florida.

The Milton resident got a call at 6:46 p.m. by a man claiming his brother not only had been in an auto accident, but he had gotten into a fight with another person and then intentionally struck the motorcycle that was involved in the wreck. According to a Milton police incident report, his brother supposedly told the caller that the motorcycle owner's friends then jumped him and assaulted him.

The story got more complicated when the caller said the motorcycle owner and his friends were holding the Milton man's brother and wanted $2,500 for repairs to the motorcycle.

The Milton man said he didn't have that kind of money and would have to go to the bank. The caller told him not to hang up his phone. When he got to the bank, he found it was closed. He told the caller that he'd give him $800 that he already had. The caller agreed to that amount and said he'd give him information to wire the money.

But the Milton resident had second thoughts. According to the police incident report, when he became skeptical and said he thought it might be a scam, "the subject became angry and told him that he could use the money to pay for his brother's funeral."

After finding out that his brother wasn't in Florida, he called the scammer back to tell him what he found out.

For questions about this blotter, email Bob Pepalis.