The two exchanged messages, and the man agreed to sell her an iPhone 8+ for $150. They both then agreed to meet at the Family Dollar on 801 Selma Road in Springfield to make the trade.
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The woman bought the phone in front of the store, and the man gave her an iPhone 7 box. Once she returned home and opened the box, she then realized it was filled with plastic children’s toys and a single USB iPhone charger, according to report.
After realizing the box did not in fact contain an iPhone, the woman attempted to contact the man again via Facebook, however, he had blocked her.
The woman was then able to gather pictures of the man from his Facebook profile, which turned out to be fake. Using the pictures from the fake profile, the woman was able to identify the man’s real profile.
According to the report, the man has made false sales via Facebook similar to this in the past.
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The woman turned over all of the information she was able to gather to the Springfield Police Division.
Police do have a suspect in the case and issued a warrant for him for theft by deception on an elderly person.
Women ages 65+ are the largest age demographic effected by scammers. Seniors lose an estimated $2.9 billion each year from financial exploitation, according to the United State Senate Special Committee on Aging.
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