topic Re: Grandparents scam in Among Friends

Grandparents scam

Justholdingon — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:20:10 GMT

Has anyone been a victim of the " grandparents scam"? My MIL was just scammed when she got a call saying my son was in a car accident in which he broke his nose and the police may have found drugs in his car too. The caller identified himself as a lawyer and said my son was in the hospital and will then be transferred to a jail and will need $2000 in order to meet bail and then an additional $1500 in order to pay for the lawyer's services to get my son out of jail. He said fortunately there were no drugs in the car, so no charges were filed against my son. This freaked out my MIL. The "lawyer" told my MIL to get Visa cards in which she can buy at stores and he will call back to get the numbers on the back for the charges to be paid. She tried to call my son, but he did not have his cell on him at the time, so she did not get in touch with him. Then another call came through claiming to be my son and said he didn't want to tell his parents because my husband had just had a heart attack last year, so he wanted to keep this a secret from us. My MIL said he sounded strange and this person said it was because of the broken nose. This person also knew so many recent details of what was going on within the family. My son is a very closed mouth person about the family, so these details did not come from him.

She is now very upset about this as she has now lost $2000. She found out before the additional $1500 was given to this "person".

Has anyone had a similar experience and if so, what did you do??

i am also upset as this is someone that cannot spare the money either.

Re: Grandparents scam

jaxs mom — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:37:53 GMT

I'm shocked anyone would fall for that. I'd honestly question their competence to take care of their own affairs.

Re: Grandparents scam

hckynut — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:43:07 GMT

@Justholdingon

How old is your MIL? Is she senile? Your whole post sounds suspect to me. Somebody believes all this BS from someone, over the phone, they do not know?

If true, her family might consider looking into a Power of Attorney to protect her.

Boy could I have had fun with a call like that one?

hckynut(john)

Re: Grandparents scam

GSPgirl — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:44:15 GMT

It's rampant. My mom was scammed last year and my friend's mom was scammed too. My mom is extremely tight with her money and knows where every penny is. She was 79 at the time a woman and her lawyer called to,say my daughter had been arrested in another country. Why my mom thought that was legit is still a mystery to all of us. She said the lawyer and woman sounded so convincing and even knew my daughter's name. I'm sure they got the info from Facebook or Spokeo. My mom actually went to the bank and and then on to the money gram place before she figured out she had been scammed. I had warned her in the past about these scams. She said she won't answer the phone to anyone except phone numbers she recognizes.

Re: Grandparents scam

GSPgirl — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:45:53 GMT

@jaxs mom wrote:
I'm shocked anyone would fall for that. I'd honestly question their competence to take care of their own affairs.

Really???????? My daughter's friend who is very bright almost fell for it and she is 30. Stop being so judgemental. It can happen to anyone.

Re: Grandparents scam

scotnovel — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:47:06 GMT

@hckynut wrote:

@Justholdingon

How old is your MIL? Is she senile? Your whole post sounds suspect to me. Somebody believes all this BS from someone, over the phone, they do not know?

If true, her family might consider looking into a Power of Attorney to protect her.

Boy could I have had fun with a call like that one?

hckynut(john)

A couple of women near where I live were hooked by this same type of scam. One of the women sent money two or three times. I don't understand why, but some people are very naive (or perhaps have some level of senility) and can easily be taken in by something like this.

Re: Grandparents scam

spix — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:47:33 GMT

Not I, but friends of mine, the first question they asked was, what is you birthdate "John" & that ended it.

I'm sorry your MIL had this experience, it can be devastating as "they" are very good at what they do, & I don't know if asking that ? would have helped but it might help someone else

Re: Grandparents scam

jaxs mom — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:49:09 GMT

@GSPgirl wrote:
@jaxs mom wrote:
I'm shocked anyone would fall for that. I'd honestly question their competence to take care of their own affairs.
Really???????? My daughter's friend who is very bright almost fell for it and she is 30. Stop being so judgemental. It can happen to anyone.

People with critical thinking skills don't just fall for anything someone says on the phone, and they certainly don't go out and get cash cards to pay for a pretend lawyer. And they at least talk to a family member to verify the info is true before they pony up any money.

Re: Grandparents scam

goldensrbest — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:50:12 GMT

One night this week on i think nbc nightly news, they had a story on this.

Re: Grandparents scam

goldensrbest — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:54:14 GMT

@hckynut wrote:

@Justholdingon

How old is your MIL? Is she senile? Your whole post sounds suspect to me. Somebody believes all this BS from someone, over the phone, they do not know?

If true, her family might consider looking into a Power of Attorney to protect her.

Boy could I have had fun with a call like that one?

hckynut(john)

John, older people are always targets for scams,every one knows that.

Re: Grandparents scam

XmasCarol — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:58:48 GMT

@Justholdingon I'm sorry this has happened. How did she pay for the Visa cards she purchased for the scammers? If she paid using her own credit card, she can dispute the charge (although I don't know if it's even possible to buy credit cards with credit cards). Also, this should be reported to the police; call the non-emergency number. I also wonder if you called Visa and gave them the numbers on the back of the card, if they could do anything. I doubt it, but it doesn't hurt to try. They've probably already spent the money. One last thought, where did she purchase the cards from? Perhaps they can somehow help, as a Goodwill gesture? Speaking honestly, I don't think you'll see that money again, but I would certainly exhaust all resources to try. It's a tough learning lesson. Good luck.

Re: Grandparents scam

embgm — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:23:02 GMT

This is not a new scam. Several years ago my parents received a call and was informed that their grandson was involved in a terrible car crash and $ was needed for him to receive immediate medical care and requested credit card information. The caller then told her several major injuries but by then my mom's common sense kicked in and realized that she wouldn't be receiving this call for cash but his parents would. She hung up and called my sister and found out it was a scam. Neither of my parents would ever give that kind of info to some unknown person who called them.

Re: Grandparents scam

sweetee2 — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:23:27 GMT

I heard about this one on our local news. It makes me so upset when I hear about this being done to the elderly. Well they will get theirs in the end.

Re: Grandparents scam

circles — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 23:01:55 GMT

A few years back I recieved a scam caller...first thing he said was my grandson was in an accident and he didn't want his folks to know so i needed to send money....

When someone calls and catches you off guard and says your family member was in an accident it takes a few minutes to get your senses back...and when I did...first thing i asked was...what is my grandsons name...and they hung up...

Had they off chance got it right...my next question would have been give me his driver license number...grandson was 12 at the time so he couldn't have been driving...

For those of you that make fun of others...it can happen...first thing you think is oh my goodness my son...grandchild...husband is in need of me...then once you get to talking to them you realize....this is a scam...

Don't rush to judgement...its unkind...

Re: Grandparents scam

hoosieroriginal — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 23:42:02 GMT

The scam here is for 2 or more people to show up at a house offering to repave driveway (sometimes they say for free). While one of the scam artists is outside with the old couple showing them what they will do, the other one or two are inside ripping them off. Tell your parents and grandparents, if someone shows up to your house trying to offer repairs, send them on their way. It has happened a lot here.

Re: Grandparents scam

Moonchilde — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 00:06:29 GMT

Specifying what to pay *with*, i.e. the cards, is a HUGE red flag. Not to mention this particular scam has been around for years - the whole in an accident, jailed in a foreign country thing.

There isn't much that can be done, and nothing that will get the money back.

Sometimes it takes a nasty wake-up call before the person learns or their relatives learn.

Re: Grandparents scam

GCR18 — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 00:09:34 GMT

My grandmother was taken by the driveway paver scam. She was somewhere around 85 at the time. She lived alone and had a really long driveway. I don't remember the price or how she paid. They sprayed her driveway black.

Re: Grandparents scam

homedecor1 — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 01:48:41 GMT

it's happened to several people we know but thankfully they didn't fall for it. I know this story has been on the local news lately.

BUT wait -- I received today in the mail a "certified check" for $10,000!!!

The directions state to review my correct spelling of my name, address, city and Within the next few days I'll receive a letter giving me further instructions on how to disperse the funds 🙄😳 Wow!!!!! Free $$$$ yeah right.

I would say this check looked pretty real -- shredded it ..... Gee I hope I didn't make a big mistake🙈.

Re: Grandparents scam

chrystaltree — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:13:47 GMT

No, I don't know anyone that naive and clueless...lol That scam has so many holes in it, you could fly a 747 throught it...lol To list a few. No lawyer would EVER disclose such information to some unknow person over the phone. Second who in the world would ask for payment with prepad Visa cards...lol I'm sure if she thought about it for a minute or two, she would have realized that personal info from the person with the unkonw voice wasn't all that personal at all. My guess is the fraud was perpetrated by someone who knows your family and knows your mother was gullible and an easy mark. What's done is done. She isn't getting that money back. Report it to the police and let the whole thing go.

Re: Grandparents scam

happygolfcartrider — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:20:34 GMT

I am so sorry this happened to the OP. These people sound so convincing and prey on older people. Thank God she did not loose a lot of money.

I have been getting the IRS phone calls sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. It is amazing how many people have been taken by this one.