Action 9: Callers posing as lawyers to extort money

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Action 9 is warning you to watch out for callers posing as lawyers.  

Someone called Dorothy Pace.  

The caller said he was a lawyer, he represented her son and her son was drunk driving and hit another vehicle.  

"You may think it's stupid, but my boy and my daughter, tops with me. They're gifts," she said.  

The caller gave Pace the impression the driver of the other vehicle wouldn't press charges or sue, but wanted money to fix his or her vehicle.  

He asked Pace to go to Rite Aid and wire money or get a money card for $5,940.  He even gave her a list of the Rite Aids closest to her home.  

She planned to do exactly as she was told, but she didn't have the money.  

"[I] sat on the steps, prayed, said, 'Lord, help me,'" she said.  

She called her son to let him know she was going to let him down.  Only then did she find out it was all a lie.  

Lawyer Douglas Simmons said a real lawyer will never ask you to wire money or use a money card.  

The only exception may be in certain real estate cases, but assume any request for that kind of payment is fishy.  

Lawyers don't get paid that way.  

Pace never thought she'd fall for such a scheme.  

She considers herself sharp. She told police what happened.

Action 9 asked her what she would tell you. She said, "I guess listen closer."  

By listen closer, she means don't panic, pay attention to what the caller is saying, and ask yourself if it makes sense.
 
It's hard to track these con artists because they use fake names and disposable phones.  The best way to stop them: ignore them.

WSOC