Caution: Real Scam Afoot

[BobPalma]

Some of you may have heard of the dangerous grandparent/grandchild scam perpetrated by the most vile among us (Attention Polyannas: Evil does exist), attempting to extort money from grandparents by calling and posing as a grandparent's grandchild.

The short version: An alleged grandchild calls a grandparent, saying the grandchild is in jail or some such in [name the foreign country] and please don't call my folks and please wire $XXXX here, which is what I need to pay a lawyer and get out. Shortly thereafter, a second call is made to the grandparent, allegedly from "The U.S. Embassy" in [name the foreign country], confirming what the grandparent has just been told by the "grandchild."

My 96-year-old father just called me, petrified that his grandson [Chef Joe] was in trouble in Mexico, having just received "the call" from "Joe," and, then, the follow-up call from "The Embassy." Fortunately, I had heard of this scam, and Dad is still sharp enough to not be taken in without further checking out the situation. We called son Joe, who is off today. Joe reported that he was indeed being held captive...by his dog, in the hammock, on his back porch at home.

If that isn't bad enough, I, too, personally received two phone calls this morning from a garbled voice claiming to be my grandson. I assured the caller that my grandson wasn't old enough to operate a telephone, sure as hell wouldn't sound like this guy if he did, and hung up. I guess they thought they'd try again, because I got the same call a second time, a half-hour later. Again, "Unavailable" appeared on caller ID. I simply hung up without saying anything when the garbled voice feined panic as my "grandson."

This is really demonic, because it plays and preys on the age, finances, and [probably] poor or at least reduced hearing of most elderly people...not to mention their normal affinity to panic when anything is amiss regarding their beloved grandchildren. I had heard about this scam earlier, and the perps will normally try to find a grandchild's name, somewhere, to use when calling the grandparent.

Forewarned is forearmed; it happened to both me and my father this morning (Tuesday, July 16). BP

[bezhawk]

So I guess my call asking for all your Studebakers will be out of the question?


All kidding aside, it's low lifes like these that prey on the weak and elderly that is just despicable.

(not saying you are.....just ..........never mind.....insert foot .......chew.....swallow......repeat)

[JimC]

Grandparents and grandkids have a special relationship. People who attempt to take advantage of this are the lowest of the low.

This is one of the reasons I got involved with efforts to fight online scams several years ago. I had met an elderly woman who had been involved in a similar scam. She had wired her entire life savings overseas, starting in small bits and growing exponentially larger each time until she was broke. She was convinced this person was a beloved family member (not a grandkid, but still related) who was being held captive in a Nigerian jail, and was asked to send bail, then bribes for the officials, then larger fines for bribing, and so on and so forth. By the time she realized it was a scam, it was too late; they had taken her money and vanished. Now she's in her late 70's and will work every day for the rest of her life because these folks took the savings she spent her entire life amassing.

The worst part? Because the actual crimes taking place are usually perpetrated from overseas, there's no real recourse for an American who gets scammed. The government has enough trouble in billion-dollar deals. They're not going to go after a criminal who's biling people out of chump change by comparison. Through my involvement in anti-scam efforts, I met several people who lost over a million dollars to scammers, and the government didn't care about them. I myself would pose as a hapless victim sometimes, in hope of getting info on scammers, and costing them some of the money they stole. In one month I amassed over a million dollars in stolen, forged checks from the same scammer. I physically had these documents, and a stream of info that could have led Nigerian police to this guy's door. I tried reporting these to the feds, and was very politely told that they would take note of it, but at the time had more pressing matters to deal with. Foreign police are even worse, and often work with these scammers in exchange for a portion of the proceeds.

Ultimately, your best bet is to read that verse in the good book that talks about being shrewd as serpents, and take it to heart. People who want to steal from you are out there, some as close as a phone call away.

[wittsend]

I'm sorry, but what "loving" grandparent wouldn't know the general whereabouts of their grandkids? What, they "love" them so much, but are clueless if they are out of the country or not? Secondly if you send money - say to a justice of the peace in this country to "get your grandkid out" isn't that a crime in itself? And perhaps a grandchild might actually be guilty of a crime. What does that say about the grandparent attempting to "free" them?

Please don't misunderstand, I am aware of these devious scams and am grateful to those who make them known. I'm more questioning the use of logic and reason (or better said "lack of") of those who send the money.

Tom

[BobPalma]

I'm sorry, but what "loving" grandparent wouldn't know the general whereabouts of their grandkids? What, they "love" them so much, but are clueless if they are out of the country or not? Secondly if you send money - say to a justice of the peace in this country to "get your grandkid out" isn't that a crime in itself? And perhaps a grandchild might actually be guilty of a crime. What does that say about the grandparent attempting to "free" them?

Please don't misunderstand, I am aware of these devious scams and am grateful to those who make them known. I'm more questioning the use of logic and reason (or better said "lack of") of those who send the money.

Tom

If the grandchildren are adults, Tom, and live 1,000 miles away, you don't necessarily know every thing they are doing every day. Our son Chef Joe calls us at least once a week, as he does his grandparents, but that doesn't mean we can possibly know what he and his wife are doing every minute of every day in between.

Granted, going out of the country would seem to have warranted conversation to that effect beforehand, but "never say never." Obviously, that's why my Dad did not engage the would-be scammer, hung up, and called me.

The more people are aware of these things, the fewer the number of people who may be scammed. Hence my post. BP

[BobWaitz]

It's not just phone calls to grandparents. A friend's email address was highjacked and we all received emails claiming that Jim was in trouble in London and needed some money wired to him real quick to pay the hotel bill or they wouldn't give him his passport back. I called him right up and he was already grumbling about the number of calls he'd received already.

Tom: Over the last couple of years I've watched a number of older friends and family members lose the "edge" that would keep them from falling for this sort of thing. They still live independently but become increasingly more vulnerable. This isn't about uncaring grandparents who don't bother to keep track of the grandkids. This is about bad people taking advantage of vulnerable adults.

[9echo]

I forwarded this story to some friends. Below is a reply from one of them. Jim,
I know an elderly couple in Rantoul that fell for this exact scam a year
ago. Unfortunately, they lost 92,000.00 to this con. That was really their
entire nest egg.

[Warren Webb]

If I got a call concerning my step-daughter I would answer & say "good, keep her!!"

[BobPalma]

I forwarded this story to some friends. Below is a reply from one of them. Jim,
I know an elderly couple in Rantoul that fell for this exact scam a year
ago. Unfortunately, they lost 92,000.00 to this con. That was really their
entire nest egg.

So sad to hear that, John.

If this thread saves even one elderly couple down the line, it is worth it.

It's hard to imagine perpetrators this low, anywhere in the world. BP

[rbruner]

I've often thought that if these "brilliant" scammers put their energy into real jobs they might be successful. But that would mean real work.

[gordr]

Given that the governments of our own countries will do nothing to prosecute these crimes (and really can do nothing), and that the governments and/or police in the originating countries either turn a blind eye to them, if not actually in cahoots with the perps, maybe it's time that we here in the West form up some vigilante squads to track down these perps and simply eliminate them where they find them. No trial, no due process, just a couple of slugs. Once word got out that scamming Westerners was a good way to wind up dead, the practice would probably fall out of favor.

[8E45E]

I had met an elderly woman who had been involved in a similar scam. She had wired her entire life savings overseas, starting in small bits and growing exponentially larger each time until she was broke.

I would like to know which bank this lady dealt with. A reputable bank would have been alert to her unusual accouont activity, despite her authorizing the transfers. I know our banks here will call a family member when they notice the funds from an elderly person's account rapidly disappearing to zero, or even if an elderly person withdraws an unusally high sum of cash at one time.

Craig

[BobPalma]

I would like to know which bank this lady dealt with. A reputable bank would have been alert to her unusual accouont activity, despite her authorizing the transfers. I know our banks here will call a family member when they notice the funds from an elderly person's account rapidly disappearing to zero, or even if an elderly person withdraws an unusally high sum of cash at one time. Craig

Good point, Craig. 'Hard telling what happened without knowing the circumstances.

I'm "on" my parents Money Market checking account but the cottin' pickin' bank blew the whistle earlier this year when I tried to pay for a new, $41,254, 2013 F-150 4-door! Crap.

(I make a little joke.) BP

[BobPalma]

Given that the governments of our own countries will do nothing to prosecute these crimes (and really can do nothing), and that the governments and/or police in the originating countries either turn a blind eye to them, if not actually in cahoots with the perps, maybe it's time that we here in the West form up some vigilante squads to track down these perps and simply eliminate them where they find them. No trial, no due process, just a couple of slugs. Once word got out that scamming Westerners was a good way to wind up dead, the practice would probably fall out of favor.

Gordon, you need an attitude check. You are not exhibiting the soft, compassionate, Kum-Bah-Yah discourse appropriate for the forum.

(I make another little joke.)

You'll handle the logistics of this, Gord? BP

[wittsend]

If grandparents are this gullible, or lacking in reason, where are their adult children to look after their best interest??? I mean who ensures that the grandparents have paid the taxes, are getting the proper medical attention, etc.? Where is the family communication? I do not have a close family and they are spread out across the whole country. Yet if they go away for more than a day someone in the family knows where they are. How an elderly woman could repeatedly go back to the bank and send money out of the country without discussing it with other family members completely baffles me.

Maybe it is lack of grandparents in my life. My grandfather on my dad's side died 33 years before I was born. My grandfather on my mom's side died 17 years before I was born. My grandmother on my dad's side died a few months after I was born (never knew her). My grandmother on my mom's side did live to be 96, but until our late teens she didn't like us much because we were our "father's kids." She was not a "doting" grandparent. She was in fact, rather strict. By the time Alzheimer's set in she had family looking after her matters.

Again I'm not saying these "scam scum" don't exist. I'm just finding it hard from my experience to fathom that people can be so gullible or that family communication and safeguards are not already in place to prevent older people from getting ripped-off.

Tom