{"id":845533,"date":"2026-09-12T18:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/845533\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T18:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:36:12","slug":"michigan-senior-cashed-out-270000-in-pensions-after-fake-ftc-agent-threatened-her-with-arrest-over-bogus-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/845533\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan senior cashed out $270,000 in pensions after fake FTC agent threatened her with arrest over bogus charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a> shutterstock.com \/ Focused Adventures <\/p>\n

A Michigan senior recently cashed out pensions belonging to herself and her late husband to pay a government impersonation scammer who threatened her with arrest if she didn’t. <\/p>\n

As is common<\/a> with government impersonation scams, it all started with an email. <\/p>\n

Must Read <\/p>\n

The 70-year-old woman \u2014 an unidentified resident of Hazel Park, about 10 miles north of Detroit \u2014 received an email in March supposedly from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claiming she was targeted for arrest, according to CBS Detroit<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“They said that there was a car found that had a dead body in it, and there were drugs involved, and her name was attached to it, and her information was in the vehicle,” Detective Chad Jackson of the Hazel Park Police Department told the outlet. <\/p>\n

A separate story<\/a> noted that the scam email told the woman to “call the agent in charge,” which she did. She reportedly learned of the bogus charges against her \u2014 money laundering and drug trafficking \u2014 and followed the scammer’s instructions to buy gold and hand it over when they visited her home in order to make the charges disappear. <\/p>\n

She also obeyed the scammer’s demand to not contact police for fear of being arrested, which led to a second bogus payout that emptied the woman’s pension accounts. <\/p>\n

How government impostor scams hook victims <\/p>\n

The scammer, not satisfied with the gold, came back for cash. As a result, CBS Detroit reported<\/a> that the woman “cashed out her and her deceased husband’s pension accounts and, in total, paid the scammer more than $270,000.” <\/p>\n

Police said she contacted them when the money wasn’t returned, as she’d been promised. They then began investigating, with CBS noting they utilized footage from community Flock cameras “to track down” and arrest the suspect \u2014 a 30-year-old man from Sacramento. <\/p>\n

Moneywise reached out to the Hazel Park Police Department for further details about the case and to learn whether the woman’s money was returned, but didn’t immediately hear back. <\/p>\n

The case, however, fits a classic pattern of government impersonation scams, as outlined by the FTC<\/a> where the fraudster portrays a government official, often by phone or email, to warn that “if you don’t pay or give them your personal information, something bad will happen.” <\/p>\n

Story Continues <\/p>\n

“Scammers claim to be a government officer warning that your Social Security number or some other information is being used to commit a crime such as drug smuggling or money laundering,” the FTC added<\/a>, almost perfectly describing the Michigan victim’s case. <\/p>\n

Stories of such fraud abound, from fake FTC agents who scammed a Connecticut woman<\/a> out of $900,000 and a Pittsburgh victim<\/a> out of over $5 million to imposter FBI agents who stole almost $600,000 from a Maryland woman<\/a> and IRS impersonators conning crypto holders<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Americans over 60 tend to be the preferred prey for cyber fraud scams, with the FBI reporting<\/a> that the cohort lost $7.7 billion to scammers in 2025 \u2014 the most of any age group. <\/p>\n

“Seniors are often targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite,” they said<\/a>. “They also usually have financial savings, own a home, and have good credit \u2014 all of which make them attractive to scammers.” <\/p>\n

The bureau added that government impersonation scams were among the five most popular targeting seniors, with the others including investments, tech or customer support, confidence or romance and business email compromise. <\/p>\n

“Government agencies will never call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money or personal information,” the FTC said<\/a>. “Only a scammer will do that.” <\/p>\n

Still, scams can be convincing, so it’s important to know how to keep fraudsters at bay. <\/p>\n

Read More: Vanguard reveals what’s coming for U.S. stocks \u2014 and it could be bad news for this group of investors<\/a> <\/p>\n

What to do if a scammer comes calling <\/p>\n

The FBI says<\/a> that recognizing elder fraud scams as early as possible and terminating communication with them is key to keeping your money and personal information safe. <\/p>\n

They say to take your time and resist the sense of urgency scammers try to create, always be cautious of any unsolicited messages via phone, email, mail or door knockers, never open email attachments from strangers or send them money or personal information. <\/p>\n

They also suggest that loved ones choose a shared password to confirm each others’ identities, installing up-to-date virus and malware protection on all devices and immediately shutting down your devices and going offline if strange pop-ups appear on your screens. <\/p>\n

As caller IDs can be manipulated, the FTC advises<\/a> that, if you receive a call from a supposed government official, hang up, search the number for their agency independently and then call that back to confirm whether the call was real. <\/p>\n

Others suggest<\/a> older Americans appoint a trusted loved one to help oversee their financial accounts on a regular basis and help keep an eye out for suspicious activity or transactions. <\/p>\n

The FBI adds<\/a> that if you do believe you’ve been scammed, to collect information about the scam, the times and dates of the contact with the scammers, any funds you sent and where you sent them and collect all other details or physical documentation of the interactions to provide to authorities. <\/p>\n

Scammers may be wily, but if you know the signs of fraud and how to act when you see it, you can stifle them before they get close to your cash. <\/p>\n

What To Read Next <\/p>\n

Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: Michigan senior cashed out $270,000 in pensions after fake FTC agent threatened her with arrest over bogus charges<\/a> <\/p>\n

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"shutterstock.com \/ Focused Adventures A Michigan senior recently cashed out pensions belonging to herself and her late husband…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[357790,28,357789,155,19871,357788,315821,1303,357791,147,161004,530],"class_list":["post-845533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-bogus-charges","tag-business","tag-cbs-detroit","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-federal-trade-commission","tag-hazel-park-police-department","tag-impersonation","tag-michigan","tag-pension-accounts","tag-personal-finance","tag-personal-information","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}