Upstate Grandmother Scammed Out Of $18,000

An Upstate grandmother found out what it's like to be the victim of a foreign scam, and it's cost her $18,000.

A couple of weeks ago, Pat Hurt got a phone call from a man who asked her a leading question.

"This young man said, 'well which one of your grandchildren is this?' And I said 'well, it's christopher.'"

She didn't know it then, but the man on the other line wasn't her grandson, but someone posing as him. He told Hurt that he was in jail in Atlanta after being involved in a wreck that injured himself and others.

"All I could think of was helping Christopher," Hurt, who lives in Gaffney, said.

The lie got more elaborate when other men got on the phone and pretended to be lawyers who were willing to help Christopher -- if only Hurt would wire money.

Over the next two days, she wired almost $18,000 from different Western Unions and through maxing out her credit card.

"I played right into their hands. How can stupid can you be?" Hurt said, and added, "but I believed every word they said."

Cherokee County deputies say Hurt isn't the only victim, and they say they've heard of cases in surrounding counties.

Sheriff Steve Mueller says it appears the scam artists are operating out of Canada, and he's in the process of contacting federal authorities to help investigate.

He urges anyone who receives such a call to hang up and verify the status of your family members by contacting them directly.