A 72-year-old Athens woman reported Tuesday she was scammed out of $1,500 by someone who sent her an email notifying her that her niece was being held by police in Morocco.
The woman said the email stated that if she sent the money, her niece “would be released from a bad situation,” according to Athens-Clarke County police.
After wiring the money through Western Union, the woman learned through relatives that she was scammed, police said. A police officer attempted to stop the wire transfer from going through but was told by Western Union the money was already withdrawn from a location in the African nation.