Picking on the elderly…

I received a phone call from a friend who told me her mother was “scammed” by an individual calling her on the phone. 

When she picked up the phone, she was greeted by a male voice saying, “Hi grandma, it’s your grandson”.  She immediately acknowledged the caller by using her grandson’s name, Lucas.

The male then went into details that he had been arrested for drunk driving and had been involved in a vehicle accident.  He further stated that his blood alcohol level was a 0.09, barely above the legal limit.  He assured her that he was fine, but his bail for release was set at $9,600.00 and if he could come up with half that amount, $4,800.00, they would release him until the court date.

Grandma had not spoken with her grandson for some time and thought his voice sounded differently.  When she questioned him, he stated he “had a cold”.

He also asked her not to tell anyone else as not to embarrass him or other members of his family.

Grandma felt bad as she didn’t have enough money to bail him out and did call other family members, who verified that “Lucas” had not been involved in an accident, not in jail and was fine.

Grandma did verify that if she did have the money, she would’ve been en-route to the nearest Western Union to send the money.

A check on elderly phone scams, (Please Read here), revealed that this was a typical scam, preying on the elderly and abusing their love for family members, especially grandchildren.

Among other scams utilized organizations that the victims are familiar with, such as Social Security, their bank, Medicare, some lottery or sweepstakes or something to do with unclaimed money.

Usually, anything to do with some sort of winnings or sweepstakes requires the victim to pay “filing fees, taxes, customs or whatever”, amounting to hundreds of dollars or more only to find out that there was no money.

The best course of action is to be aware and educate potential victims. 

Personal information should never be given out over the phone.  Personal info is social security numbers, any info about your bank account or credit cards, driver’s license info, address, etc.  Any organization you do business will already have that info.

If someone contacts you on the phone and requests information about you, ask them their name and phone number.  If they refuse to give that to you, more than likely, it’s a scam.

Scammers will usually pressure you into a quick decision, usually telling the victim “you need to make a decision now”.

Never send cash immediately.

Let the answering machine answer unknown phone numbers and listen to the message, if they leave one.  Then you have more time to figure out whether the call is a potential scam.

We all have a responsibility to protect our loved ones and unfortunately, there are those who would prey on those willing to protect their families and friends.

Talk to your family and take the time to educate them and protect them.  The time you take in preventing a crime will always be substantially less trying to solve the crime.