Rich grandma sends appealing Facebook message; woman loses $15,000

A Jackson County woman apparently became excited when she received a Facebook message in February from a wealthy grandmother who wanted to treat the woman to $1.5 million along with a new house.

The only catch: She had to pay the $15,000 in taxes.

A Jackson County sheriff’s report taken Saturday detailed the incident in which the Braselton woman fell for the rich grandma hoax. During the coming weeks, the Braselton woman went shopping for Foot Locker, Razer Gold and Apple gift cards.

She reported to a deputy that she purchased cards totaling $15,000 and provided card photos and card activation numbers to the “grandmother” over WhatsApp.

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During the course of the scheme, the woman said she talked to two men with foreign accents. They identified themselves as the brother and lawyer of the grandma, who had told the victim that she became rich by winning $343 million in a Powerball lottery.

The rich grandma did send her victim three checks for $50,000, $15,000 and $2,000. The deputy reported that all three checks bounced when deposited at the bank.

The woman is out of the money, Sheriff Janis Mangum said Tuesday.

“There is no hope because she gave them the information for the PIN number on the back,” she said.

Mangum said she has frequently warned people, even on Facebook, about the dangers of sending money by gift cards and to people they don’t know.

“I feel like I’m beating a dead horse,” the sheriff said. “I put this out all the time.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Jackson County woman thinks $1.5 million gift is real and loses $15K