If your grandchild called seeking help, would you send money? The Washington Attorney General’s Office is warning Washington residents about the “grandparent scam,” where cons posing as relatives try to convince elderly victims to wire cash to help pay for emergency car repairs, medical bills – or even post bail.
A Tri-Cities woman nearly fell for the scam. The woman received a call this week from a young man who said “Hi, this is your grandson. I’m in trouble.” The caller spun a tale about wrecking a car in Canada and said he immediately needed $3,000. In fact, her grandson was safe at home.
UPDATE: Our office also received a report from an Auburn couple who lost $4,800! Another local couple lost $1,000 in this scam, according to this KOMO TV report.
Here’s how to help detect a scam:
1. Don’t fill in the blanks for the scammer. For example:
Caller: "It's your granddaughter."
Grandparent: "Which one?"
Most likely, the con will then hang up.
2. Do whatever is necessary to confirm the real relative’s whereabouts. Call your grandchild’s home, school or work.
3. Don’t send money unless you have verified that your relative is really in trouble. If a caller asks for your bank account number or urges you to send money via Western Union or MoneyGram for any reason, that’s a good indication of a scam. Cons prefer wire transfers because they are fast, there are transfer agents in most communities and funds can be picked up in multiple locations.
Posted by AGO Blog Moderator at 07/09/2008 04:11:39 PM |
This is happening in WI as well. My husbands grandma just had this happen today, 9-9-08. It was the same story as the Canada car wreck.
Posted by: Rachel ( Email ) at 9/9/2008 5:18 PM
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I just found out my 80 year old mother was a victim of this scam. The caller said they were her grandaughter and my mother thought she sounded like one of her granddaughters. She sent the wire. The next time she saw the granddaughter she assured her that she sent the wired funds and it was at that time her confused granddaughter told her she has not been in Canada and never asked for money.
Posted by: Mary G. ( Email ) at 10/26/2009 12:13 AM
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I was recently a victim of this scam because I was not aware that it existed and sent money to Toronto via Western Union. All WU offices should be advised to the details of this particular scam...any monies being directed to a Canada address should be questioned and a warning could be issued by the WU representative. That would have stopped me immediately!
Posted by: Veleda Nelson ( Email ) at 1/22/2009 9:34 AM
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The Attorney General's Office successfully negotiated agreements with Western Union in 2005 and Moneygram in 2008 in which the "send forms" used to transfer money have required warnings. Here's an example of the warning:
http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home/News/Press_Releases/2008/MoneyGramsendform.pdf
Posted by: Kristin Alexander ( Email ) at 1/30/2009 2:50 PM
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This happened to my former inlaws today. They received a call from someone saying they were my grandson and had been in a car accident in Canada. My former inlaws are on a fixed income and were so upset that they could not help him right away. They suggested he call me. They gave him my name and number (he knows my number but told them it got destroyed in the accident and he has a concussion and can not remember it). This male called. He said my name and told me it was [NAME DELETED BY AGO BLOG MODERATOR]. He then proceeded to tell me about the accident and how he needed help. Thank God I talk to my daughter and grandson on a daily basis and knew this was a scam. I feel so bad for my former in-laws as they were very upset. I thought this scam was going away but today proved differently. I want others to be on the alert for it.
Posted by: Doris Carlson ( Email ) at 8/27/2009 12:50 AM
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This happened to my Grandparents in Idaho today. They lost 2,200. The police in Boise said there was nothing they could do. The police in Toronto said that it was the Idaho police's business. I did a Google search and it seems like this is a huge thing, the scammers have been targeting different states and areas and the money is always getting sent to Toronto or somewhere in Canada.
My grandparents are intelligent people, and in retrospect there were a lot of red flags, but the scammers were very convincing and they couldn't even tell it was not me on the phone.
Posted by: Becca ( Email ) at 5/6/2009 9:21 PM
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This happened to my grandmother in law this morning. She was so freaked out, she called my mother in law. Luckily my mother in law keeps pretty good tabs on us and knows I wasn't in Canada.
Posted by: Mike O'Reilly ( Email ) at 10/21/2009 7:37 AM
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My father was victim of this scam last night. The caller told him NOT to call or tell anyone because he'd get in trouble for being in Canada and swore my dad not to let anyone know. By the time I heard about it, it was too late, the money had been picked up. The local police (IN) said there was little they could do about it because it was in International incident. They got dad for $2461. which was all he had to give them :-( [BLOG MODERATOR'S COMMENT: I am so sorry, Sheryl. I hate hearing stories like this.]
Posted by: Sheryl Lewis ( Email ) at 3/13/2009 5:31 AM
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My father (grandparent to my son) had a similar experience. He received a call from his (grandson)..."you don't sound like X!" "I was in an accident and hurt my mouth so I don't sound the same" - amazing! My father hung up immediately. My question is, "how do these people get the information about the relationship between the grandfather and grandchild?" Thanks! [BLOG MODERATOR'S RESPONSE: John, they can guess the person's name. Or they might browse social media sites.]
Posted by: John Mayeno ( Email ) at 11/27/2009 7:41 PM
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