Grandparents scam, which targets an older person’s instincts to do whatever they can to help their children or grandchildren.
One elderly man describes what happened when he was targeted:
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“The phone rang, I picked it up and he said grandpa, this is Jimmy; I’ve been in an automobile accident. And he sounded just like my grandson,” he said.
He says he does have a grandson named Jimmy, who was actually involved in an accident last month.
But this person calling, claiming to be Jimmy, asked for money for bail and asked him to send it through gift cards. So the grandparent bought $2,000 in cards, and gave the card numbers to the caller to cash.
And the next day he gave out $2,000 more in cards. But then, he also called his grandson’s cell phone and his real grandson answered.
“I called Jimmy again on his cell phone, and this time he answered it. I said are you still in jail Jimmy? He said what do you mean?” the grandpa said.
The grandparent says the caller seemed to have local knowledge and directed him to stores to buy the cards. And in talking to store employees, he thinks he’s not the only victim.
“She said, I’m not selling you the cards; I said why? She said there was another lady in here a week ago, that did the same thing and she got taken the same way,” The grandparent explained.
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He knows he most likely will never see his $4,000 again, but now he wants to warn other grandparents. “To me, it’s a sick person that does this, takes advantage of other people,” he said.
The Better Business Bureau gets a lot of calls on this type of scam, and says to always verify through family or in any way you can who is calling before sending any money.
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Original article courtesy of WWMT.
Photo Credit: Elder Law of Chelsea
