You get a call or text message from someone who says they’re with the local jail or sheriff’s office, telling you to send money to bond a family member out of jail. Sheriff’s offices around the state have warned of this kind of scam for a while now. One family in Iberville Parish recently became victim to the scam and wants to warn others so that no one else falls victim.
UWK is not publicly identifying the family or circumstances behind the arrest to help protect the victims’ identity.
A family was recently scammed out of $1,700 when they paid the amount, thinking they were sending money that would go toward bonding their son out of the Iberville Parish Jail.
The morning after the man was jailed, his mother said that her family started receiving phone calls from the Iberville Parish Bond and Bookings phone number.
“A little after 8:00, my husband gets a phone call at home, on I guess either the house phone or the cell phone, from these people. The call came from Iberville Parish Bond and Bookings the number,” she told UWK. “Then my husband said, ‘Look, I don’t take care of the finances. You call my wife.’ So next thing you know, they’re calling my son at his job on his cell phone, and asked if he would bond him out. and And my son said, ‘No, I’m not bonding nobody out.’ And then next thing you know, my daughter-in-law is calling me.”
The alleged scammers texted the family about ankle monitor information, as well.
The woman says that they called her at work with information about her son, what his charges were, and more. They even had an officer’s name, Wade Raspberry, which made their scheme more believable. She says that because they had these details and were persistent, she believed them, which is why she stayed on the phone and worked to get the money sent over so that her son could be released.
“They said you pay this fee right here, and then you can go ahead and get him out of jail.”
The scammers told her she could pay the bond amount via apps like Venmo and CashApp. Because there were limits on how much money she could send, the scammer eventually told her to use a kiosk.
“I said, ‘Where’s the closest kiosk then?’ And they told me Baton Rouge, and I said, ‘Well, let me call you back.’ They said, ‘No, no, we can’t, we can’t disconnect the call. We got to stay on the line with you the whole time,’ and that’s what they kept telling me. So finally, finally, I got it to work through Venmo because I had to call the bank and raise the limit. This had gone on for almost three hours, almost.”
The scammers told her that she would get back 100% of the money. After the $1,700 transaction went through, she said that the person she was speaking to then transferred her to another person.
“Then they connect me to somebody else saying that I would have to come up with $6,750, and that would be for his ankle bracelet and something else. I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. You know, you didn’t tell me none of this…I’m not. I don’t think I need to pay this’.”
She told UWK that she’s glad she stopped things at this point, because she was starting to realize that things weren’t as straightforward as she originally thought.
“I finally got a hold to somebody and they said, “Oh no, no, no, that’s a scam. They had that on the news not too long ago and stuff,” she said.
She said that her focus was on getting her son out of the jail so she didn’t stop to question the things she now thinks she should have recognized as warning signs.
“The people they kept, you know, Venmoing me who to send it to, you know. I should have caught on to the picture of how they looked and stuff because they looked like gangsters and stuff.”
The $1,700 she sent through Venmo is now gone, she said. When she reached out to Venmo, the company told her that the money cannot be recovered once it’s sent out, she told UWK.
After she realized it was a scam, she went to file a police report. She now has a warning for others who might get similar calls.
“Iberville Parish—they don’t call you and ask for money from Venmo. You have to go up there and pay it in person,” she said.
“I just hope I get my money back. I was a fool, but I’ve learned my lesson now.”
More on scams from UWK:
- Elder Abuse Awareness Month highlights scam threats against seniors
- State agencies warn of text scams going around
- New Jersey man arrested, accused of almost scamming $800K in gold from Tangipahoa resident
- Scam alert: Fake federal warrants target Iberville Parish residents
Download the Unfiltered with Kiran app from the Apple App Store and Google Play to stay updated on the latest news across the Capital area.
Support UWK and its mission to deliver The News You Deserve. Unfiltered. Become a monthly patron on Patreon today!
