October 17, 2026 – Village of Jackson, Wi – Quick action, persistent investigative work and a little luck helped Jackson Police Detective Jennifer Gerke recover nearly $70,000 for two men who were victims of online scams.
The most recent case involved an 81-year-old Village of Jackson resident who reported losing $49,800 after clicking on what appeared to be an antivirus notification on his computer. The scammer convinced the man to visit his bank and wire nearly $50,000 to a Bank of America account.
Quick action, persistent investigative work and a little luck helped Jackson Police Detective Jennifer Gerke recover nearly $70,000 for two men who were victims of online scams.
The most recent case involved an 81-year-old Village of Jackson resident who reported losing $49,800 after clicking on what appeared to be an antivirus notification on his computer. The scammer convinced the man to visit his bank and wire nearly $50,000 to a Bank of America account.
Gerke was assigned the case and began tracking the money. Through subpoenas, financial records and coordination with the District Attorney’s Office, she discovered that $44,020 remained in the account. She obtained and executed a seizure warrant, allowing the money to be returned to the victim. Her investigation also led her to identify and assist another fraud victim in New Jersey.
Gerke said the outcome depended in part on how quickly the victims reported the crimes.
In an earlier case, Gerke recovered nearly $25,000 for another Village resident who had been scammed. That man reported the crime almost immediately after realizing something might be wrong.
“He listened to his neighbor’s advice and came and talked to Officer Tusik,” Gerke said. The officer recognized the urgency of the situation and contacted Gerke, who went to the police department that evening, even though she was not working.
“I went to the police department that evening and tried to do anything that I could to get the suspect account frozen,” she said.
Police were able to freeze the account, and Gerke worked with the District Attorney’s Office the following morning to begin obtaining the necessary court orders. It took about two months for the victim to receive his money.
The timing was critical. Some of the stolen funds had already been transferred to China.
“If he would have even waited until the next day, that money would have been in China,” Gerke said. “There would have been nothing that we could do for him.”
The second case presented a different challenge. The victim did not realize he might have been scammed until about a week later and spoke with Officer Miller. Investigators obtained bank records through subpoenas and learned the bank had become suspicious of unusual activity and frozen the account.
By then, some of the money had already been sent overseas. However, a portion remained in the account, allowing Gerke to work with the District Attorney’s Office to obtain a seizure warrant for the remaining funds.
“It was a combination of a little bit of good luck as well as obviously putting in the legwork to write the paper and to get it served quickly,” Gerke said.
Recovering money in these cases is far from routine, she said. Wire transfers, cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer payment services can move money almost instantly, often allowing scammers to withdraw or transfer funds before victims realize what has happened.
Gerke said her first priority when someone reports a possible scam is to stop any further loss, lock down accounts where possible and place fraud alerts before investigating whether money can be recovered.
“Very seldom are we able to” recover the money, she said. Still, she tries to remain hopeful and believes investigators should make every effort to help victims.
“It really upsets me when scammers are able to get anything out of anybody,” Gerke said. “People work hard for their money. They work a lot of hours. I mean, that’s their livelihood.”
She said scammers use different approaches to target people, including fraudulent computer pop-ups claiming a device has been infected with malware or that a suspicious transaction has occurred.
One common tactic in both Jackson cases was instructing victims to lie to bank employees about why they were withdrawing or transferring money. The scammers might tell victims to say the money was for a vacation or home improvement project.
Gerke said banks ask questions about unusual transactions because they may recognize warning signs of fraud and want to protect their customers.
“The banks don’t care what you spend your money on,” she said. “But one thing I think they’re trying to do is they’re trying to protect their customers by asking about, you know, kind of odd transactions.”
Her advice is to be honest with bank employees if a transaction is connected to an unexpected phone call, computer alert or online request.
“If the customers are honest with them and go, ‘Hey, yeah, I’m not sure this might be a scam,’ the bank can help protect them,” Gerke said.
Gerke also wants people to understand that fraud is not limited to older adults. While scammers may specifically target seniors because they often have substantial savings, people of every age can be victimized. Younger people may face sextortion schemes, while middle-aged adults can be targeted by investment scams.
“Because somebody falls for a scam doesn’t mean that they’re dumb or that they’re stupid,” Gerke said. “The scammers are really good at what they do. This is their full-time job.”
She encouraged anyone who receives a suspicious message, computer alert or request for money to contact their local police department before acting.
“I’d rather spend five minutes on the phone explaining to somebody that doesn’t even live in the Village that, ‘Hey, this is a scam. Don’t do that,’” Gerke said. “I’d rather spend five minutes telling them that versus spending an hour telling them that we’re not going to be able to get their money back.”
Jackson Police will be hosting a Fraud Awareness Seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Jackson Area Community Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Detective Gerke will share her knowledge and experience investigating financial crimes and help residents better understand how to recognize scams before becoming victims. Everyone is welcome. You do not need to be a Village of Jackson resident to attend.
Scammers are constantly finding new ways to steal people’s hard-earned money, and the more people who know how to recognize the warning signs, the better.
Please join us in congratulating Detective Gerke on a job well done, and we hope to see you Wednesday evening.
Chief Ryan Vossekuil