The Westlake, Ohio Police Department is sharing a cautionary story about a woman being scammed out of around $122,000 by someone claiming to be legendary former Journey singer Steve Perry, reports WKYC.com.

According to Westlake police, a resident stopped by the station late last month to report being the victim of a scam. The 75-year-old woman told officers that she responded to a message on Facebook in January from someone claiming to be Perry.

"The fake Mr. Perry had a business opportunity for investment and of course 'needed a woman in his life',” Westlake police explained.  

Over the next several months, police say the Westlake woman sent "thousands of dollars" to the Perry impersonator who continued correspondence through text messaging and WhatsApp.

A closer look at the Westlake Police Department's report on the case revealed that the woman apparently gave the scammer $72,000 via wire transfers to "various persons in various different states, designated by 'Perry,' through her bank." She also purchased approximately $50,000 in gift cards after being prompted by "Perry."

Read the full report at WKYC.com.

The real Steve Perry (pictured at top) recently partnered with Los Angeles rockers The Effect, the trio comprised of Trev Lukather (son of Toto’s Steve Lukather) on guitars, Nic Collins (son of Phil Collins) on drums, and newcomer Emmett Stang on vocals, to record a cover of Journey’s “It Could Have Been You”, from that band's 1986 album, Raised On Radio.

Rolling Stone hopped on Zoom to hear how the song came together, and Perry told them that he has other projects in the works.

“I just signed with a new label,” Perry says. “I’m very excited about it, and I’ll have an opportunity very soon to work with these very, very musically creative people. I’ll probably announce who I signed with very soon. That’s about as much as I can say, but I’m excited about that, and I am working on stuff.”

Perry emerged from a 22-year recording hiatus in 2018 with the release of Traces. But he didn’t tour behind it, disappointing many fans. What got in the way? “Well, it’s a long story,” Perry says. “Uncle Steve is up in age, and everybody at this age has some aches and pains and things like that. But it’s a really good question that I’ve been asking myself too. And Trev’s been busting my balls about it for a long time, to be honest with you.

“It’s something that I’m absolutely missing terribly,” he continues. “I can’t even tell you how much, but there’s been a big soulful reclaiming of this original feeling that I had about singing that I needed to get back to. I didn’t want to go out and just turn the wheel or turn the crank.”

Read more at RollingStone.com.

A message from Steve Perry about the above-mentioned "It Could Have Been You": "In 1986, the Journey Raised On Radio record was released and in it was a song I've always felt was a diamond in the ruff. I've known Trev Lukather since he was 9 years old, and he is a very gifted musician. One day we were talking about his new band, The Effect … He surprisingly mentioned 'It Could Have Been You' is one of his favorite tracks from that record, I told him I felt the same. I then said, why don’t you record it? He asked if I would sing on it if they did, I said... 'Of course, my most precious!' I must say, singing on their powerful track brought out a vocal experience from years ago! So now... releasing on May 7th on all socials and streaming is a powerful reimagined version of 'It Could Have Been You' by... The Effect. Have a listen!"