OT: Scam alert.

[Zorro]

My mother-in-law, who is 92 and lives in a retirement community just had the following experience;
She got a call. The caller said'" this is your grandson". She said "which grandson", and the caller said "the good-looking one". She said; "Oh, (lets say, Felix". The caller said, yes, this is Felix and I need your help. I was just in a car wreck and a baby was injured and may die. I need $5000 to get me out of jail. You have to help me. My lawyer can come and pick up the money." She said; Felix, you sound funny." Caller; "I hurt my nose in the accident and I can't talk good. My lawyer will call you" When the supposed lawyer called, she said; "Well, I don't have that much money on hand. Will you take a check?" "lawyer"; "No, that won't work. How much money do you have on hand?" "$100." "Lawyer"; well, I will try to get him out somehow" and hung up.

Whereupon, she called our son (who is in Seattle). He, of course, had NOT been in a wreck and doesn't even own a car. She also told us that one of her friends had had a similar experience recently. So, if you have elderly relatives or friends, pass this on and tell them to be on the alert and not take any such "emergency" phone calls at fact value. If the m-i-l had been just a little more gullible and had had easy access to the money, the scam would have worked. I pass this along in hopes that it may prevent some other elderly person from being scammed or worse. Of course some really intrepid person MIGHT set up a time for the money pickup and arrange to have the cops waiting, but that might lead to even worse complications.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Many years ago, somebody tried to scam my grandma claiming to be me, and in trouble somewhere in Mexico. She thought it sounded sketchy, so she called me and confirmed I was not in Mexico.

So many scumbags out there.

 

[YSRFrisbee]

Sad but true! One of my friends drove his elderly neighbor to CVS where she purchased $500 worth of amazon gift cards. He thought it seemed odd, but didn't want to be nosey. However, he asked her about it on the way home and she said that her "grandson" called and needed her help. And although it didn't sound like him, he had the correct name. Turns out the scammers googled her name easily found the names of all her relatives. Luckily, the authorities were notified and she got her money back!!


"In a world where you can be anything...be KIND"

But did I mention how much I hate people sometimes??

 

[JordyG]

I love to string these guys along for as long as I can, then at the end wish them cancer of the heart (or worse), then hang up. As long as I'm on the phone they can't scam someone else.

 

[The Viking]

My grandmother had a similar call from someone a few months ago - same thing, its your grandson - but didn't say which and she was trying to guess if it was me or my brother. Anyway, it didn't get anywhere thankfully.
These people need to rot in hell.

 

[mbr33ct]

There's this great YouTuber called Jim Browning who's actually able to reverse connect on the scammers PC's, sometimes with their own CCTV cameras to see how these call centers actually work in India. Below is one such video.

 

[LouS]

It's the Grandparent's Scam. It happened to me a while back. I got emotional because at first it sounded like my grandson and I thought it really was my grandson. When I pulled myself together, I asked the caller to name his to cousins, HE HUNG UP....I reported the call to the local police and they said they knew about this type of call and it happens all the time. "BE CAREFUL"

 

[Ozimoto]

Almost as old as the royal parties from various places asking you to help them get their money out of the country, but this one is evil as it targets older people by playing on their emotional attachment to relatives.

A special area of the warm place awaits such people I suspect.

 

[Bama fan]

I love to string these guys along for as long as I can, then at the end wish them cancer of the heart (or worse), then hang up. As long as I'm on the phone they can't scam someone else.

This is becoming so common that I saw a public service ad locally urging people to be aware of it. The ad explains the basic scheme, and goes on to warn people that they should never send gift cards to settle any sort of phone transaction. A local single mother of two desperately in need of a used vehicle was convinced to send a batch of gift cards as partial payment to a nonexistent car dealer. Unscrupulous people seem to be able to find the most vulnerable and exploit them.

 

[Bama fan]

Almost as old as the royal parties from various places asking you to help them get their money out of the country, but this one is evil as it targets older people by playing on their emotional attachment to relatives.

A special area of the warm place awaits such people I suspect.

Is that Palm Beach?

 

[BostonBay]

Thats a common scam, unfort. Never give out any private info from an incoming phone call - DOB, SS#, etc. Its 99.9% a scam. The IRS, a bank, an insurer, etc. would never call you with an issue. They'll use mail.

 

[cohenzone]

That scam has been around for a while. The IRS scam has even scared some business people who should know better. No Fed govt agency does phone call collections, at least not to start the process.

 

[bluedevil]

When my dad got that call about his grandson he said "keep him in jail it will do him good." True story..my father was tough but I turned out almost all right....

 

[Ozimoto]

Perhaps I should have used the phrase "The Bad Place" to piggy back on a TV show.

 

[Urshurak]

Exact same thing happened to a lady I work with. Such a shame that there are scum bags in the world like this.

 

[Steelerone]

I love to string these guys along for as long as I can, then at the end wish them cancer of the heart (or worse), then hang up. As long as I'm on the phone they can't scam someone else.

Jordy, when I used get phone calls from India telling me that I have problems with my windows I would tell them that I just had insulated ones put in. They would not get it at first so I'd ask them what the framing was on their windows. One time I had the caller so angry that he told me to commit an unspeakable act and had the audacity to hang up on me.

 

[Steelerone]

This is becoming so common that I saw a public service ad locally urging people to be aware of it. The ad explains the basic scheme, and goes on to warn people that they should never send gift cards to settle any sort of phone transaction. A local single mother of two desperately in need of a used vehicle was convinced to send a batch of gift cards as partial payment to a nonexistent car dealer. Unscrupulous people seem to be able to find the most vulnerable and exploit them.

Bama, I wanted to share the good news with you and the rest of the Yarders. I'm soon to be set for life. Got a call from a lawyer in Ghana. I won the Burundi Lottery and will be receiving one hundred million dollars. I sent them all the pertinent info so they could transfer it to the bank. This is the best news since my wife told me she purchased that new Edsel.

 

[UCSouth]

If caller id shows a number not in my contacts, I just let it go to voicemail. They never leave a message.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I love to string these guys along for as long as I can, then at the end wish them cancer of the heart (or worse), then hang up. As long as I'm on the phone they can't scam someone else.

Sometimes I'll just say, "Hold on a sec," and put the phone down. Then I'll watch to see how long they'll stay on hold before they hang up.

 

[mbr33ct]

Sometimes I'll just say, "Hold on a sec," and put the phone down. Then I'll watch to see how long they'll stay on hold before they hang up.

...even if it's the IRS?

 

[bluedevil]

Bama, I wanted to share the good news with you and the rest of the Yarders. I'm soon to be set for life. Got a call from a lawyer in Ghana. I won the Burundi Lottery and will be receiving one hundred million dollars. I sent them all the pertinent info so they could transfer it to the bank. This is the best news since my wife told me she purchased that new Edsel.

Make sure you give them your bank routing number as well as the account number. Enjoy your winnings!

 

[Alydar]

Why isn't something done? Our government records all our phone conversations and texts and they van even tell where we were when we made the call. Cell phones are open doors to them. So why have I never once heard about them raiding, arresting and jailing the perps? Yeah, they are in foreign countries but our government has no problem assassinating anyone, any where in the world, for any reason. I find it hard to believe they can't trace this back to those in charge unless doing so would compromise their own nefarious activities.

 

[Zorro]

They can't all be in foreign countries. The "lawyer" was ready to come to her house and pick up the money.

 

[Steelerone]

Make sure you give them your bank routing number as well as the account number. Enjoy your winnings!

Thanks BD, My brother in law knows a lot about stocks and I'm going to invest most of it in Radio Shack.

 

[uconnfan68]

If caller id shows a number not in my contacts, I just let it go to voicemail. They never leave a message.

Caller ID is a must have.