Grandparents Scam Comes to a Neighborhood Near You

Grandparents should be aware of a scam targeting those with grandchildren that has been successful in several areas.

A phone call in the middle of the night to you as a grandparent from someone who is claiming to be one of your grandkids may be enough to frighten you into responding to this scam. The caller will say they have been arrested or their car broke down in a distant city.

While it may be easy for some to see this as a hoax, those with grandkids might be willing to provide the scammer with needed funds to help the grandchild bail out of jail, or get a car repaired. The caller will usually have some details about the grandchild, but not quite enough.

According to information reported in the Charlotte Observer, a grandparent may be told to send money to another area because a friend, with a name you won't recognize, is helping the grandchild get out of jail or get the car fixed.

Grandparents trying to confirm the details told by the scammer with other family members or local law enforcement will soon know someone attempted the scam. Several grandparents have fallen victim to this scam. While there have been reports of similar scams for several years, only a few have reported that they sent money.

Even a few reports of people being scammed is enough to make most more alert. If someone calls with a request that seems odd, ask questions that the caller should be able to answer. When details don't make sense, hang up.

The following information is from the Western Union site and defines Grandparent Fraud as this company has seen it occur recently-

Grandparent: This fraud is based on the Emergency Funds fraud.The fraudster will contact grandparents and impersonate either their grandchildren or a person of authority such as law enforcement, medical professional or attorney.The fraudster describes an urgent situation or emergency that requires money to be sent immediately.

Often phone calls will be from out of the United States with the person claiming to be the grandchild stating they were away for a vacation, a wedding or a trip that has to do with school. Especially if the grandchild is usually living in a distant state, one can see how easy it would be to scam a grandparent into believing the child needs emergency financial help.

Sometimes when the information is viewed in print, it is easy to see why grandparents and others can easily become victims and be scammed. One site includes these details as reported by a couple who thought they were talking to their grandson:

The young man sounded very distressed, saying that he'd just been involved in an accident in Canada and needed them to wire him money immediately. The couple reports that the young man sounded exactly like their grandson, who attends UVM. The young man begged the grandmother not to tell anyone about the trouble he was in, because he was embarrassed. He instructed the grandmother to wire a large sum of money through Western Union to an individual who he claimed was a lawyer in Spain helping him with his situation in Canada.

To read more of what this couple shared after they received a phone call from someone claiming to be one of their grandsons, visit this site.

Sources:

Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte News

Western Union