CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A family is warning people about someone who preys on the excitement of a loved one being released from jail. But in their case, there was no happy reunion.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones spoke to one family that was excited their loved one was coming home and quickly forked over hundreds of dollars to someone who said they worked at the jail.
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“That’s evil, because we been waiting on my brother to come home almost three years,” Stephanie Rushing said.
Rushing thought her and her families’ dreams had come true and her brother was going to be released from the Clayton County jail that night.
That’s what someone who said they were a sergeant at the jail told them.
“And if we paid the $400 he could get out,” she said.
The family immediately paid the so-called sergeant at the jail.
“We paid him Cash App,” Rushing said.
Then their loved one called them. They told him he was being released. He knew nothing about it.
“So, then he went to talk to the people at the desk, and they told him that we have been scammed,” Rushing said.
A similar scheme is happening at jails around the metro area. Someone in Paulding County emailed Channel 2 Action News, saying it happened to them.
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It’s so pervasive, judges in Clayton County warn inmates during first appearance hearings about someone calling from the jail about a pretrial diversion program and dismissal of charges if a fee is paid.
“Please note that this is a scam. No such program exists,” Magistrate Court Judge Latrevia Kates-Johnson said from the bench recently.
Rushing’s family found that out after forking over $400, money they didn’t have to throw away.
Rushing said people can be so cruel.
“You’re tugging on somebody’s heartstrings about their loved ones coming home. And knowing its just a scam,” she said.
Rushing says after the fake call from the jail, she got a call from someone saying they were with a bonding company. She called the bonding company, and they told her it was also fake.
Rushing thinks it has to be someone from the jail since they called right after her brother was booked.
Jones called the Clayton County sheriff to see what he had to say about it but did not hear back.
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