SPOONER, WI-- An 85-year-old lifelong Spooner resident received a call on her home phone on Thursday, Feb. 9, from a man stating he was an attorney from Chicago, who said her great-grandson, Trey, was in jail, and she needed to send thousands of dollars within 2 hours in order to bail Trey out of jail. She even talked to a young man, who the attorney claimed was her grandson. However, family members soon discovered, it was all one big scam.
It’s called the “Grandparent Scam” and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) initially warned the public about the extortion calls and/or emails in 2011. Since then, the “Grandparent Scam” has evolved into an even more elaborate scheme to get money from unsuspecting victims by knowing and using real names and by having someone impersonate the potential victim’s grandchild.
Karen, the daughter of the almost-victim, told DrydenWire.com that her mother was informed her great-grandson was in a vehicle that ran a red light and was, subsequently, pulled over by the police for the violation. She was told cocaine and drug paraphernalia were found during the search of the vehicle, and Trey was arrested.
She then spoke to a young man on the phone, who she was told - and who she thought - was her great grandson. The con artist posing as her great grandson went so far as to tell her not to tell other family members because he “didn't want to be in trouble.”
The demands the scamming team made were as follows: In order for her to get Trey out of jail, she had 2 hours to get $3,000 in the form of three, $1,000 Walmart gift cards and then call the attorney back for further instructions at the following phone number: 250-513-0149.
She immediately went to her Spooner bank to debit the funds from her bank account in order to purchase the three Walmart gift cards, thinking she was helping her great-grandson out in a time of need. While she was getting the money together, she called her daughter, Karen, from the bank.
Karen was suspicious and called the phone number for the attorney, which her mother was given. Karen spoke to the attorney and was put on the phone with a man claiming to be her great nephew.
“It didn't sound like him to me,” Karen said. “I proceeded to ask him questions about his family -- What was his brother’s name? How many brothers did he have? What was his stepfather's name? -- the response I kept getting from [the imposter] was, ‘Karen, what does this have to do with anything?’ I stated, ‘Because I [know] this [isn’t] my great nephew.’ They, then, hung up on me.”
Where do these scammers get their information? According to the CFA, “sometimes they contact people randomly. They also use marketing lists, telephone listings, and information from social networking sites, obituaries, and other sources.”
“If my mom hadn't called me to help her she would have lost $3,000,” Karen said. “People need to know they seem to be contacting the older people. It is a SCAM!”
For more information about fraud protection, visit www.consumerfed.org/fraud or to report possible scams and fraudulent activity, contact the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office at 715-468-4700.
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“Grandparents Scam” Tips
You get a call or an email unexpectedly from someone who claims to be a friend or relative. This often happens to grandparents with the caller claiming to be their grandson or granddaughter. The caller says there’s an emergency and asks you to send money immediately. But beware, there’s a good chance this is an imposter trying to steal your money! Follow these tips to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
How do these scammers choose you to contact? Sometimes they contact people randomly. They also use marketing lists, telephone listings, and information from social networking sites, obituaries and other sources. Sometimes they hack into people’s email accounts and send messages to everyone in their contact list.
How do these scammers know the names of your friends or relatives? In some cases they don’t. For instance, the scammer may say “Hi grandma,” hoping that you actually have a grandson. If you ask, “David, is that you?” the scammer will say “Yes!” Often these crooks will call in the middle of the night and take advantage of the fact that you may not be awake enough to ask more questions and you may not want to disturb other people by calling them to confirm the information. Sometimes the scammers do know the names of your friends or relatives. They can get that information from a variety of sources. Your relatives may be mentioned in an obituary or on a social networking site. Your email contact list may contain the names of friends and relatives.
What do these scammers usually say? They might say something like, “I’m in Canada and I’m trying to get home but my car broke down and I need money right away to get it fixed.” Or they may claim to have been mugged, or been in a car accident, or need money for bail or to pay customs fees to get back into the United States from another country. They may also pose as an attorney or law enforcement official contacting you on behalf of a friend or relative. No matter the story, they always want you to send money immediately.
If you realize you’ve been scammed, what can you do? These scammers ask you to send money through services such as Western Union and MoneyGram because they can pick it up quickly, in cash. They often use phony IDs, so it’s impossible to trace them. Contact the money transfer service immediately to report the scam. If the money hasn’t been picked up yet, you can retrieve it, but if it has, it’s not like a check that you can stop – the money is gone.
How can you protect your email account from being used by scammers? Use a firewall and anti‐virus and anti‐spyware software. Many computers come with these features already built‐in. They are also easy to find on the Internet. Keep your software updated. Don’t open attachments in emails from strangers, since they can contain programs that enable crooks to get into your computer remotely.
What else can you do to protect yourself? If you get a call or email from someone claiming to know you and asking for help, check to confirm that it’s legitimate before you send any money. Ask some questions that would be hard for an imposter to answer correctly – the name of the person’s pet, for example, or the date of their mother’s birthday. Contact the person who they claim to be directly. If you can’t reach the person, contact someone else – a friend or relative of the person. Don’t send money unless you’re sure it’s the real person you know. For more information about protecting yourself from fraud, go to www.consumerfed.org/fraud.
Last Update: Feb 09, 2017 5:33 pm CST
