Another elaborate scam is plaguing Stafford County that is hard to track.

On May 19th at approximately 11:39 a.m. Deputy J.E. Cordes responded to a residence in South Stafford regarding a scam. The victim advised she received a call from someone posing as her daughter. The deceitful daughter advised she had been involved in an auto accident and in the other vehicle was a pregnant woman who now might have a miscarriage.

Another voice on the other end of the phone chimed in advising to avoid reckless driving charges the victim would need to pay a bail. It was further advised someone would arrive at the victim’s residence to collect the money in cash. After the handoff, the victim called her daughter only to learn she was not involved in any accident and the incident was a scam.

While Deputy Cordes was on scene for the scam report, the victim received another call from the scammer. The scammer advised the pregnant woman lost her baby and hospital expenses needed to be covered. Even though it was already discovered to be a scam, the victim and Deputy Cordes played along in hopes to catch the person collecting the cash. A quick sting operation was established and the driver soon after arrived. Unfortunately, the driver was discovered to be a Lyft driver and had no knowledge of the scam.

Scams like this use ride share apps to pick up the package in order to avoid being caught. They will also impersonate relatives in an attempt to get you to act quickly. If you receive a call of this nature, or something similar, know it is a scam and hang up.