Police Brief: Caller Swindles Grandmother Out of $3,500, She Tells Police

A 79-year-old Brighton Township woman says she was tricked out of $3,500 by a phone caller claiming to be her grandson in need of money in Mexico, according to the Livingston County Sheriff's Department.

When she answered the phone during the April 18 incident, the caller asked: "Which one of your grandsons is this?" She replied with a name that the man claimed to be. The man then said he needed money and was in Mexico City, a police report said.

After hanging up, the woman attempted to call her grandson, but after not reaching him she told police she went to a nearby drug store and wired the money via Western Union. When she returned, her grandson contacted her to say it wasn't him who called, the report said.

Western Union told police the money wasn't traceable and could be picked up at any of its locations.