The Gray Police Department is sounding the alert to the targeting of local senior citizens following two recent cases that have resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars for the victims.
Gray Police Chief Adam Lowe warned in a Sept. 18 interview that people retirement age and over continue to be targeted by criminals trying to get to their savings. He said in the most recent cases, the victims live less than a mile apart and lost over $40,000.
Lowe said the fraudsters are hitting Gray and Jones County hard.
“This is happening right here,” he emphasized.
Two different financial institutions were involved in the recent cases, and each handed over thousands in cash in $100 bills to the victims. The money in both cases was picked up by drivers of rideshare companies.
Lowe is making a plea to anyone who gets a phone call asking for money, even if it is from a family member.
“The Gray Police Department is glad to check out anyone calling and wanting you to give them money. If you’re not in the city, the Jones County Sheriff’s Office will be glad to help you,” he said. “Please don’t talk to anyone on the phone about your money or give them any personal information.”
The chief emphasized that a bank will not call to ask a customer to withdraw their money, and neither will any government agency, such as the IRS.
He said law enforcement cannot help if the victims do not come forward.
“We feel like this is happening to more folks who don’t report it,” he said.
GPD Maj. Mark Robinson said they are making headway on the case that was reported Aug. 21. That scam was a familiar one with the caller telling the victim they were checking out fraud on their account. The victim was asked to withdraw $10,000 in cash in $100 bills in order to catch an internal fraud.
That victim recently had small fraudulent charges on their account that were caught by the bank, and the amount taken was returned. That experience only made the victim more vulnerable.
Robinson was asked if he thought that was a coincidence, and he quickly answered no.
“We believe that was the beginning of hackers setting up the victim for the bigger score,” he said.
The internal bank investigation scam is very familiar with a Jones County man being a target in 2025, right down to the caller claiming to be a bank fraud investigator. The victim cleaned out his savings in $100 bills and put it in a box to be collected by a courier. Fortunately, family members found out what was going on in time to stop the money from being picked up and alerted the sheriff’s office. The driver in the proposed pickup car fled but was tracked on Flock cameras and actually arrested in North Carolina.
Robinson said after the August victim was convinced to withdraw the cash to help with an “internal investigation,” they were instructed to go to a mailing store, purchase a box, put the cash in the box and hand it off to a rideshare driver at an arranged location.
Even though the victim was not in Milledgeville at the time, they were convinced to go to the branch there to make the withdrawal.
The victim followed instructions perfectly, but the fraudster was not satisfied and convinced the victim to go to their bank in Gray and draw out more cash. When that large cash transaction was refused by bank personnel, the victim was instructed to drive to Macon and try another branch. Eventually the victim realized something was not right and reported the fraud to the GPD.
Robinson said the victim had the description and tag number of the rideshare driver, and she was tracked to Covington, where the box with money was handed off again. That first rideshare driver was arrested and is in custody, but the cash that was handed off in Covington is gone.
GPD Ma. Chris Williams and Robinson were able to track down the location of the handoff in Covington and secure a video of the transaction. The video provided information about the hand-off vehicle and a visual of the driver. That lead is being followed, and Williams is also working on a court order to obtain information from the rideshare company.
The evidence collected in the investigation has also been shared with the GBI.
The fraud attack last Wednesday involved a different type of scam but with the same end result – a package of cash being picked up by a rideshare driver.
Robinson explained that scam was about a supposed “grandson” being in trouble and needing thousands of dollars demanded by a judge immediately, and then several more thousands for bail. The caller told the victim his voice sounded different because his nose had been broken in the accident that had injured a pregnant woman.
The major said the fraudster at first wanted $60,000 but settled for $30,000.
“The first money drop was $8,000. The courier pulled into the victim’s driveway within 30 minutes to get the package of cash,” he said.
Robinson said more money was demanded Thursday with the three withdrawals over two days totaling $31,000. A family member was contacted by the bank after the third withdrawal but was quickly informed by the victim the problem was being handled.
The family member eventually convinced the victim to call law enforcement. The major said the investigation of last week’s case is in its early stages. He said the caller used phone numbers that were spoofed and hard to trace, but the rideshare drivers and vehicles used are viable leads.
Lowe asks anyone who has been a fraud victim or has a family member who has been victimized by these criminals to please report it. The more information law enforcement has, the better the chance of the criminals will be stopped.
The phone number for the Gray Police Department is 478-986-5554. The number of the Jones County Sheriff’s Office is 478-986-3489.
