Three scammers pretended to work for Children Services to target an elderly Portsmouth woman last Friday. The trio showed up at a 16th Street apartment around 2 pm on Friday and told her they were from Scioto County Children Services. They claimed they needed to see her apartment.
Even though the woman who lived there didn’t have children, she allowed them to come in. She described her visitors as a man and two women, all three in their fifties.
The Scammers
The man was skinny with black hair and a short goatee. The women were described as chunky-looking with dark hair.
The three walked through the entire apartment and even opened the refrigerator. They did not take anything.
When the elderly woman’s daughter learned of the visit the next day, she called Children Services to check. A representative told her no visit was scheduled for that name or address.
Police advised the 78-year-old woman to not open the door to strangers and to immediately call 911 if anything like this happens again. Thankfully, in this case, no one was hurt.
How can you tell a real CPS worker from a faker? I reached out to Scioto County Children Services and spoke with interim director Vicki Evans. She was shocked at the events.
“I can’t believe that something like this would have happened. It’s hard to believe people would go that far to misrepresent themselves. I’d never dreamed something like this would be an issue.”
How To Identify A Real Caseworker
Evans said that all caseworkers carry photo IDs that identify them as employees of Scioto County Children Services. “They wear the badge and are supposed to present it to people when they go to the home.” The photos on the badges are current images, too. Evans also said that a caseworker would have no problem waiting for you to call the office and verify that’s where they are from. One tip, don’t call a number they give you. Look the number up on your own.
A relative of the victim said that these fakers did have badges. But that’s not the only sign that something was wrong.
“I wish we had three caseworkers to send out on a case,” said Scioto County Children Services Supervisor Emma Coldiron. “We would never send three people.”
With staffing and budget limits, it’s highly unlikely the agency would send a team of people.
You Will Be Notified
Another sign the trio were fakers is that Children Services don’t just show up unannounced. You are notified when an investigation is opened. In an emergency situation, a caseworker would be accompanied by a police officer.
Coldiron said, “We call ahead of time. You would know before we arrived to do a safety audit.” She said the agency would never inspect a home unless a child currently lived there or there was a placement planned. “We don’t come and check homes unless there’s a placement. We would have already contacted you as part of the process.”
Vicki Evans thanked us for covering the issue. “Praise you for doing an article like this. I hope it reaches a lot of people.”
