Grandson Scam - Page 3

house_cat · ‎03-09-2010

Several years ago, when my mom and dad were still living in NY and my family was here in California, they got a call in the middle of the night from a young man who said, "Grandma, it's Kevin (my older son's name) and I got arrested for driving drunk. I'm in jail and I need bail money. Please! I need to get out of here!" You get the idea.

Anyone who has been awakened by a phone call in the middle of the night knows how disconcerting that can be. They were about to give the credit card number when they had the wherewithal to call me first. My mother was in tears and I'm pretty sure my dad was, too. They were certain it was my son they had spoken to. I had to wake him up and put him on the phone so he could assure them it was not he who had called them.

I'm not sure how these scammers get the names of the grandchildren, but they do, and it's absolutely horrible how they prey upon the vulnerable eldery population.

~ house cat ~

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@house_cat It's probably some of the personal info they can pick up when people post on social media sites. Grandmas love the brag about their grandkids. I've never heard anyone mention about getting a call from a girl. It's always grandsons who "get in trouble".

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

Big Sister · ‎05-15-2010

Yep, I've had the grandson scam caller also. They probably think that if they make 100 calls, at least 10% will fall for the scam and send money.

willdob3 · ‎11-01-2010

If you don't answer calls from unknown numbers you don't have to worry about getting scammed. Let it go to voicemail/answering machine. If it is important (and not a scam) they will leave a message. People also tend to be less likely to fall for a scam if it is a message than if the scammer is talking to them.

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

I don't have a grandson either, so this hogwash would fit in the one time someone called me and said, "you donated before and we were checking to see if you would donate again this year?" I asked how much I donated last year, and she gave me some cokamamie number. It was so, stupid, I laughed out loud right into the phone and said, "I've never donated that much money before, so YOU have got a Wrong Number!" Then I just hung the phone up.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

This happened to my aunt and uncle a couple of years ago. My uncle, who is not well, got the call. The kid on the phone said "grandpa?" and my uncle said his grandson's name and the kid just answered yes. He had some elaborate story about being in the car with friends, the friend had weed, they all got in trouble and he needed money to get out of jail.

Luckily before he could do anything else, my aunt came home and told him the story was fishy and they were calling the police. The police told them this has been going on for years and yes it was a scam. My poor uncle still wasn't convinced so they called their daughter and the grandson was right there with her.

house_cat · ‎03-09-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
@house_cat It's probably some of the personal info they can pick up when people post on social media sites. Grandmas love the brag about their grandkids. I've never heard anyone mention about getting a call from a girl. It's always grandsons who "get in trouble".

Well, I can be sure my mom and dad were not posting on social media, lol, but I believe this is one of the ways it could happen. You're right, though, that's it's rarely a granddaughter. I wonder if that's because the scammers themselves are more likely to be men.

~ house cat ~

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

Does anyone know if kids are in/out of school at this time? It's a horrible shame if adults are once again using children to break the law.

naturalfan · ‎03-09-2010

I've got a great line for this one. I would ask "is it Tommy or Billy". Whichever name they gave, I would say oh, that's OK, I don't like that grandson very much anyway. Let him stay in jail.