HAMMOND, La. (BRPROUD) – A two-week investigation by the Hammond Police Department led to the discovery of various scams targeting elderly in the area.

The main scam was initiated from individuals outside of Hammond.

Elderly in Hammond and the surrounding area would be contacted “via telephone and email with the offer of low interest rate loans,” according to the Hammond Police Department.

The key was that the scammers would tell whoever was on the other line that COVID-19 prevented them from completing loans in person.

Unfortunately two elderly victims fell for this scam over the phone.

HPD says, the victims “applied for these loans and sent packages to the scammers according to their directions.”

Some good detective work led to detectives finding two packages and figuring out who they belonged to.

Search warrants allowed authorities to search the boxes and this is what they found:

• The first package contained a small teddy bear. Inside the bear was an envelope with $3200 in cash.
• The second package was a reloadable gift card hidden in a book

Thankfully, the original owners of the packages got everything back and a lesson in how this scam is perpetrated by criminals.