Senior Citizens Losing Thousands of Dollars to
Grandparent Scam on Telephone
Con artists claiming to be relatives using bogus
stories to target seniors
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San Antonio woman thought it was her grandson that needed
money
 “Barbara Thompson received a phone call a month ago
that still rattles her mind”, according to a report by Vincent T. Davis
in the San Antonio Express-News. “The connection was full of static. The
caller said ‘Hi, Grandma,’ sounding like her oldest grandson, but his
tone was down, like he was upset.
Read the rest of this story about how this
grandmother was fleeced of $3,379 by someone pretending to be her
grandson. The story also has tips on how to prevent this from happening
to you.
Read the rests of the story at the San Antonio Express-News
Photo by Nicole Fruge
nfruge@express-news.net
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March 19, 2009 – A new warning from the Texas
attorney general is the latest to alert senior citizens of a telephone
fraud now known as the “Grandparent Scam” or “Emergency Scam.” Usually,
the caller pretends to be a grandchild in need of emergency money.
The ruse often includes a caller who says something
like “Hi, grandma,” or “Hey, it’s your favorite grandson.” The caller’s
goal is to learn the name of a recipient’s actual grandchild. Sometimes
the caller may even have learned the name of the grandchildren in
advance – and claim to be a grandchild on the call.
The caller typically tells the victim that he or
she has been in an accident, was arrested, is stranded or in similar
trouble and needs money immediately. Most often, the caller claims to be
traveling in Canada.
The “grandchild” also insists that the victim not
tell anyone else – which increases the odds that the fraud will be
successful. If all goes according to the con artist’s plan, the victim
will wire money to the “grandchild.” By the time the elderly call
recipient realizes what happened, the money is long gone and most likely
not recoverable.
This type of fraud is particularly troubling, as it
plays upon a grandparent’s natural desire to protect a grandchild,
according to the Texas AG.
This fraud was reported last September by the
Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre.
“Complaints in the first eight months of 2008 have
more than doubled to 317 over the total of 128 complaints during the
full year of 2007,” according to RCMP Cpl. Louis Robertson of the CAFCC.
The Canadian group also warned that there are
variations of this fraud where the caller does not claim to be a
grandchild but to be an old neighbor or friend of the family’
Although variations of this scam have been around
for a long time, it has become more sophisticated with the proliferation
of information on the Internet, says the Texas AG.
Con artists are more often using personal
information gleaned from family blogs, genealogy Web sites, social
networking Web sites and online newspapers to add credibility to their
calls. Reports from law enforcement agencies around the country suggest
that the scam works too often.
Watch out for these red flags:
• Callers requesting money.
• Callers claiming to be in Canada or other foreign location.
• Callers insisting on secrecy.
• Urgent callers pressuring quick action.
• Callers with unfamiliar voices.
• Callers requesting that money to be sent by wire transfer (because
those funds are hard to track and almost impossible to recover).
• Vague or elusive callers who get personal details wrong.
Seniors should always exercise some skepticism when
they receive telephone calls urgently requesting money. If a relative
calls and asks for money, they should verify the identity of the caller
with personal questions a stranger would not be able to answer. Seniors
should not “fill in the blanks” for callers but should ask them to give
their names.
The Texas AG suggests they may also consider calling back using a telephone
number they know to be genuine. Another option is to ignore the caller’s
wishes and verify the story with another family member.
Resources:
●
Phone Fraud at the Federal Trade Commission
●
Who's Calling? Recognize and Report Phone Fraud
Explains how to recognize and report phone fraud and encourages
consumers to register their number in the National Do Not Call Registry.
●
Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission
● Texans who believe they have been the target of a
scam should contact the Office of the Attorney General at (800) 252-8011
or online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.
● PhoneBusters
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Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre
(888) 495-8501
www.phonebusters.com
info@phonebusters.com
● Federal Trade Commission
(877) FTC-HELP
www.ftc.gov
● Better Business Bureau
www.bbb.org
