Families with inmates in Lincoln Co. jail fall victim to scam
LINCOLN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Some families of Lincoln County inmates were recent victims of scam attacks. According to one mother, a person posing as an attorney called the jail to talk to her son. She was added to a three-way phone call with the man and her son.
"He said he was on an attorney-privileged phone call with my son. And then said ‘speak up’ and that's when my son's voice came," said Lori McDaniel, mother of one inmate.
McDaniel admitted she was vulnerable when she answered the call. She said the person on the other end of the line told her that her son was innocent and now a witness to a federal investigation.
"This man had all the right words. He had all of the right attorney jargon. He had all of the right urgency," said McDaniel.
The man on the call requested $500 to pay for an ankle monitoring system so McDaniel’s son could be released.
"They would refund that money because I was telling them this is my mortgage payment I'm sending,” said McDaniel.
She said she sent the money through a wire transfer while still on the phone with the man. He then asked her to send another $350 for a bondsman.
"I was questioning a lot, and that seemed to kind of irritate him. But he was just being persistent," said McDaniel.
She said that after sending more than $850, she realized that something was not right.
"I broke down in tears," said McDaniel.
She was one of at least two other families with loved ones in the jail that had received similar phone calls.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kevin Garrett said that it was not typical protocol to allow attorneys to call inmates and that most attorneys come to jail to talk to their clients. He said now that this situation has come to light, he planned to look into policy changes.
Law enforcement said it was important to watch for red flags when a person received strange calls. If they ask for personal information, demand money, or say the call is urgent, it’s likely a scam. If they won’t let you get off the phone or you receive a third-party call, regardless of whether family is on the other end, those would be red flags.
Also, if what they’re promising sounds too good to be true, then it is likely a scam, and it’s best to hang up the phone.
"My money will not be recovered and was not it's not going to come back,” said McDaniel. “The only thing I can do now is try and save someone else from going through the same thing."