A 74 year old Galesburg woman reported to police Saturday that she was scammed out of $15,000 after mailing two checks to a fake government grant program.
The woman told authorities she contacted the “Federal Government Grant Company” on Facebook after her cousin told her about a program which falsely advertised granting $200,000 in money that would never have to be paid back if a $15,000 fee was paid.
After obtaining $7,000 and $8,000 cashiers checks from an area financial institution, both were sent to a Donna Pearson in Rhode Island.
A police report says the woman also gave her e-mail address and password to that e-mail. The scam was realized when the scammer asked for an additional payment to be sent to a Louisiana address.
If a culprit is apprehended, theft by deception and felony deceptive practice charges are pending. Investigation is on-going.
