Common 'Grandparent' Scam: There Are Some Really Rotten People Out There. Some Call You On The Phone

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Fri Feb 18, 2022, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

-> Phone scams targeting the elderly have burgeoned & multiplied during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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- Daily Kos, Feb. 18, 2022. - Ed.

My mother suffers from what appears to be early stage dementia but remains relatively self-sufficient, at least for now. Her condition so far is manifested in occasional short-term memory loss and periods where she becomes confused about why she is doing something: opening the refrigerator, entering a room, writing a check, for example. Thanks to the internet it is not particularly difficult to determine her advanced age and trace down members of her family, including myself and my children, along with our addresses and approximate ages. This week I visited her along with my father, who is physically disabled but still fairly sharp, mentally speaking, at the house where they’ve lived for the past 50-odd years. We spent a lot of time putting their medications into clear little box trays, separated by each day of the week.

On my way home I got a call from her. She was quite upset, actually totally beside herself, in fact. It seems my son had called her and told her that he had been involved in a car accident. He was being held under arrest, charged with “reckless endangerment” and “criminal negligence.” The car he was driving struck another being driven by a woman who was pregnant, and she’d been hospitalized as a result. My son said he couldn’t reach either me or his mother (my wife) and he was desperate. He needed $17,000 to post bail and get out of jail. He told my mom that the money would be returned as soon as he could get out and talk to me. He needed a credit card number or a possibly a number for her checking account. She told my son that she would attempt to contact me, and then someone else’s voice came on the line, reiterating what my son had just told her. By now in a complete meltdown, she asked who he was.

I’ll stop here, because by now you know where this is going. The “grandparent” scam is one of the most common phone fraud scams targeting older Americans.

- As discussed by AARP: Grandparent scams typically work something like this: The victim gets a call from someone posing as his or her grandchild. This person explains, in a frantic-sounding voice, that he or she is in trouble: There’s been an accident, or an arrest, or a robbery. To up the drama and urgency, the caller might claim to be hospitalized or stuck in a foreign country; to make the impersonation more convincing, he or she will throw in a few family particulars, gleaned from the actual grandchild’s social media activity. The impostor offers just enough detail about where and how the emergency happened to make it seem plausible and perhaps turns the phone over to another scammer who pretends to be a doctor, police officer or lawyer and backs up the story. The “grandchild” implores the target to wire money immediately, adding an anxious plea: “Don’t tell Mom and Dad!”

These scams have propagated & multiplied during the COVID-19 pandemic as people, particularly elderly people, are more socially isolated & emotionally vulnerable. Many victims have been bilked out of thousands of dollars, succumbing to the scammers’ pleas that they “act immediately.” In my case my son had posted pictures of him & his grandmother on Instagram, & may have otherwise inadvertently divulged some personal identifying information. This is the 2nd time this has occurred- the other instance was directed to my father.. I looked the scam up & printed off a couple articles about it. We also reported it to the local police where he lives since that instance involved someone impersonating a police officer. Feeling foolish, he returned home he showed the articles to my mother, but she no longer recalls the incident. The scammers target older people like my mother & father because they come from a different, simpler time when such activity was fairly incomprehensible.

They are among the final generation who know next to nothing about the internet.. It’s impossible for them to conceive of how easily someone could retrieve their children’s & grandchildren’s information, & it’s equally impossible for them to conceive the kind of venal mentality that would prompt someone to use such information in this manner...

- More, Tips, Advice + 151 Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/18/2081071/-There-are-some-really-rotten-people-out-there-and-some-of-them-call-you-on-the-phone

[dflprincess]

2. I had heard about the "grandparent" scam so I was prepared when my turn came to get it

So this frantic voice starts handing me his sad story. And I replied, "I told you the next time you got yourself into trouble not to call me. I'm done."

And I hung up. Haven't had that call again.

I also have the advantage of not having grandkids and the grandnieces & nephews aren't old enough to get into trouble like this & they wouldn't call me grandma so, hopefully, I wouldn't fall for this under other circumstances.

I also got the "the IRS is coming for you right now" call. I had more fun with that one, just strung the guy along for awhile, then asked if he could see my tax return. "Of course", he lied. Then I asked if he could see that it lists what I do for a living. "Yes and we will be notifying your employer of this." So I replied, "Then you can see I'm an attorney with the IRS." This time the caller banged the phone down. --- It's not lying when you're scamming the scammer.

[appalachiablue]

3. Luv it; you nailed him!!! ...burn...

[rsdsharp]

4. A classmate of actually was an IRS attorney.

He retired as a supervisor, but I’ve never heard that he’s gotten these calls. I have. I just laugh and hang up, if I’ve answered at all.

[BigmanPigman]

5. On the news I saw a woman who caught them.

She knew she was being scammed and she pretended to go along with it and had called the police. She got their help and when the moron actually came to her house to pick up the money he was arrested on the spot.

They tried to scam my mom and told her my niece was in jail. My mom is pretty bright but she fell for it because they had so much info and it tricked her.

[summer_in_TX]

6. My iPhone has a setting that allows me to silence calls

from unknown numbers not in my address book. Since I found that and turned it on, I rarely hear those scammy kinds of calls anymore.

I'm not at the gullible stage yet, but I'm not under any illusions I won't eventually be. I just hope this kind of technology will make it unlikely I'll get exposed to an elaborate scam.

Anyone who persists can leave voice mail. The transcription feature means I only listen to a few. Most I skim and delete, the few that bother to leave voice mail.

[love_katz]

7. Kick for visibility.

[left-of-center2012]

8. Wicked scam

Been around for years.
People need to learn

[Rebl2]

9. I have no

kids, therefore no grandchildren. I would just have to tell them that’s strange since I never had children and don’t know how I could have a grandchild under arrest.

[marie999]

10. I would just tell them to lock him up and throw away the key.

[dalton99a]

11. Kick

[pfitz59]

12. My mom got sucked into one of these.

My sister and I stopped it after she made one money transfer. We were actually able to sue Western Union and got the money back. All the more reason to keep in touch with siblings and parents.

[appalachiablue]

13. Sorry that happened but glad you pursued it. Staying in

touch is essential given the criminals at work and more. Sheesh.