Okay, there are a lot of reasons to detest scam artists that con people out of their money, but in my opinion the bottom-feeders of that particular low life are those who specifically target senior citizens. I mention this because I was shown something by a friend of mine earlier this evening. It seems that down in California there was a couple that were taken in by some guy pretending to be their grandson needing help after a car accident.
The story about the Cohasset couple that fell victim to the phone scam, including a video of the news broadcast, can be found at the KNVN Ch 24 website (preceding link). Basically some guy called up in the middle of the night claiming to be their grandson and that he had been in an accident in a rental car in Las Vegas, he needed money wired to him within the hour. The guy knew stuff that sounded legitimate, things the couple suspect he got from a public geaneology site, so they wired the money. They later discovered their grandson was safe and in California – not Nevada. The grandson looked into the wired money and was told that someone with proper ID had collected it from a pickup location in New York.
The police said there was little hope of any recovery of the money (over $2,000), and advised people to never disclose personal information when called. I don’t think that advice would have helped in this situation, since the guy seemed to have all the information already. This is, in my opinion, a good example of a couple that were targeted by a sleeze that knew the scam they were pulling. My sympathies to the couple, I wish I could offer some kind of advice on how to get the money back, but the best I am able to do at this point is to alert others to this scam and help them in their desire to make sure that their being targeted can help others learn to evade these kinds of predators.
The only thing I can think of that I would suggest on this is to ask for a number to call back at before the money is sent, and then call the person who claims to need the money using a number you already had for them, or someone that knows them – such as a parent or sibling, and get independent verification that the person really is where the person calling claimed. If not – immediately pass that number you got on to the police so they can try to catch whoever it really is.
