N. Huntingdon woman scammed out of $18,000

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — A man told Channel 11 his North Huntingdon grandmother was scammed out of thousands of dollars, all starting with one phone call.

He claims his grandmother lost $18,000 in two days.

Now he’s speaking out, hoping to warn others.

“That was everything in my grandma's bank account, cleaned out,” said Jonathan Staso, who is speaking out for his grandmother after she was scammed out of $18,000 in just 48 hours.

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"My grandmother is dejected and emotionally distraught,” Staso said.

He told Channel 11 someone called his grandma claiming to be a lawyer and that Staso was in big trouble and needed money for help, so she went to Giant Eagle and purchased $18,000 in Target gift cards.

“She orginally went to Giant Eagle bought $4,000 in gift cards that turned into another five and six and three and she thought that I was injured and hurt,” Staso said.

Those scammers got the Target gift card numbers from his grandmother and then cashed them out at Target stores.

According to Staso, North Huntington police told them this is the second elderly scam with Target gift cards in recent weeks.

Now he and his grandmother want to make sure this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.

“We went to the police station, talked to corporate Giant Eagle and Target, filed internal cases, but nothing they can do,” he said.

Channel 11 contacted North Huntingdon police to find out where they stand in the investigation, but have not heard back.

Cox Media Group