Alleged Phone Scammer Tries to Bilk Thousands

A Dresher man transferred more than $4,700 to a scammer in an attempt to “help his grandson,” Upper Dublin police said.  

According to police, a man who identified himself as Michael Steele, called the 85-year-old victim on April 17 at about noon and said that he was an attorney representing the victim’s grandson who had been “arrested” following a DUI-related crash. Steele then asked the victim to send $2,500 via MoneyGram to the Howard Young Prison in Wilmington, Del. — where the victim’s grandson was being held, according to Steele’s story.

Steele said that the victim could talk to his grandson, but said that “he would not sound the same” due to injuries from the so-called crash, according to the report.

The victim then withdrew money from his bank and sent a MoneyGram to the address, 1301 East 12th St., Wilmington, Del., in the amount of $2,670 plus $170 in fees from Walmart, police said. Later in the day, Steele called the victim and said that he received the money, but said he needed more money because the rental car the victim’s grandson was driving sustained damages and the insurance company needed to be reimbursed, police said. Steele asked for an additional $2,055, police said.

On April 18, the victim withdrew more money from his bank and sent a MoneyGram in the amount of $2,055 plus $155 in fees from the Willow Grove CVS. According to police, Steele called the victim later in the day and asked the victim to change the MoneyGram address to a New York address; the victim went back to Walmart to change the address. While at Walmart, an employee told the victim that he had been scammed.

According to police, MoneyGram put a hold on both transactions and refunded the victim’s money, but would not refund the fees without a police report.

The victim reported the incident to police on Monday.

On April 18, the victim called Steele with the phone number provided and told Steele that he was aware of the scam. According to the police report, Steele said, “Oh [expletive]” and the victim has not received any more calls from Steele.