MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio — For 54 years, Marilyn Glauner worked hard as a real estate agent and saved her money.
“She scrimps and saves and never you know buys herself anything. She never goes on vacation and so it’s really sad that somebody could just snatch that money way,” said Marilyn’s son, Greg Glauner.
Marilyn Glauner was convinced she had won $8 million and a car from Publisher’s Clearing House, but she did not.
“She was defrauded by an organization of scammers that represented themselves as The Publisher’s Clearing House,” added Greg Glauner.
“There was always a little voice in my head that said don’t do this,” explained Marilyn Glauner. It started with a phone call and ended with Marilyn sending over $100,00 to an address outside New York City.
“I had other types of scams come my way that I’ve avoided them but this one was so convincing and so much documentation, I went and checked, and everything seemed legitimate,” explained Marilyn Glauner.
The 81-year-old woman sent $100,000 in three cashier's checks and another $3,000 worth of Visa gift cards to pay what she thought were the taxes on her prizes.
“When she was at the bank on Friday, she pulled out $20,000 she had never done that before. Monday another $20,000 and a half hour later, she pulled $60,000 more all in cashier’s checks. I don’t know a lot of good reasons for an 81-year-old to pull out $100,000 in cashier’s checks,” said Greg Glauner.
When Marilyn’s daughter discovered the missing money last week, she called her brother Greg, the Brunswick City Fire Chief. He immediately went to the bank and tried to stop payment, but said the bank could not do it. So, he said, he started calling for help.
“We called Medina Township Police, they responded and took a report, we called the sheriff of Medina County, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, county prosecutor, anybody we could,” explained Greg Glauner.
Glauner said UPS was able to stop two of the checks in transit. But his mom still lost $23,000. The money, he said, came from a home equity line of credit.
“It’s amazing to me that a woman that gets a little more than $600 a month in social security would be a target of a fraud. These individuals have no heart,” he said.
Marilyn Glauner said she is telling her story to save other older adults from being defrauded of their hard-earned money.
“I would hope that my stupidity would inspire somebody to be more suspicious and more careful,” she said.
A little more than a year ago, Marilyn had a stroke. Her son is convinced it played a role in her being swindled.
An expensive mistake Marilyn Glauner said that she has no intention of repeating.
“They did save $80,000., thank you God. Thank you, kids,” she said.
