Casper police are warning the community about a scam that took one Casper resident for $3,500 and unsuccessfully targeted a handful more.

Marge Schropfer said she received a call from a man purporting to be her grandson Richard. He was crying, she said, and had a sense of urgency in his tone.

She asked how she could help him, so the man on the other line gave her the name of a lawyer, who explained to her how to wire money.

"I feel very stupid. I've never done anything that stupid before but it was all very urgent, it had to be done right away," Schropfer said. "The person who called was good. Let me tell you, I would've sworn it was Richard."

Marge said she ran out to Wal-Mart and it wasn't until after she reached her daughter - who she wasn't able to reach after the scam artist called - she realized she had been scammed.

"We can't do anything about my money but we can do something about other people not getting scammed," Schropfer said. "My life isn't going to be unalterably changed but it does make me very angry."

Casper Police Sgt. Steve Schulz said he's seen a few reports of the scam in the past couple days

If the person answering the phone asked "which grandson," Schulz said, the caller would say "the oldest." And with each answer, the caller was able to make the call sound more and more legitimate.

One potential victim confronted the scam artist after verifying his grandson was in good health, Schulz said, and the caller hung up on him.

"You could just cycle through numbers. You could make 10 calls, and it takes just one to connect," Schulz said, noting the calls were from a land line in Alberta, Canada.

Schulz warned people receiving such calls to "do their homework" and verify if it actually is a relative seeking help.

Reach city reporter Pete Nickeas at (307) 266-0639. You can read his blog at http://tribtown.trib.com/redtape.