New Scam

One of our ladies here in the park (85 years old) received a phone call this morning supposedly from her granddaughter.  Both she and her husband said the girl sounded like their granddaughter who was back home in Ohio.  The girl said she had been in a car accident, rear ending another car, and was being put in jail for the weekend unless someone paid $4,500 to her lawyer.  She put her "lawyer" on the phone to explain it to the elderly couple.  

They were to go out and buy $500 prepaid cards totaling the $4500 (he wouldn't accept a check or credit card number)and overnight them to him and he would ensure their granddaughter would not have to spend the weekend in jail. 

The elderly couple were frantic to help their granddaughter but had the sense to try to contact their son first before sending the money.  He assured them that their granddaughter had indeed been in a car accident, rear ending another car, but was NOT in jail.  The phone call had been a scam.

What is so frightening about this is that some of the information was correct and the fact that the elderly couple's cell phone number was known.  

As we (our coffee morning visitors) listened to this story, another lady told us that she and her husband had received a phone call a while ago supposedly from the IRA telling them they had not paid enough money on their tax return and would be arrested if they didn't make an immediate payment of $1700.  I don't remember how the caller wanted the money paid.  This couple was very frightened at first but then realized that they have an accountant who does their taxes for them and the call had to be a scam.  It was.  This couple also had their credit card information stolen and used a couple of years ago after taking a cruise.  The travel agency was the culprit.  The same travel agency also was suspect in stealing credit card info on another friend who took the same cruise.

It worries me about how much personal information we hand out all the time...credit cards, passports, etc.  Many of us have received those letters supposedly from friends asking for money because they were stuck in a foreign country.  Our real friends had their e-mail addresses highjacked by criminals.

I know of one elderly lady who was cheated out of $800 by a scammer and it's shocking that she fell for it.  These criminals come up with new scams every day and just constantly try them on us until they hit pay dirt.  It's sickening.  They prey on elderly or gullible people and manage to steal millions, maybe billions, of dollars every year.  Nigeria is one of the prime locations where the scams originate.

When you think of the elderly couple today who thought their granddaughter called them, the scammer had to know of the accident and have the ability to find the grandparent's phone number.  It will be interesting to find out who she gave that number to at the accident.

We must NEVER send cash to an emergency caller without contacting a few family members or friends to verify the emergency.  It's terribly sad that scams work even occasionally and innocent people are hurt financially.

Never let a waitress or clerk walk away with your credit card when paying for a purchase.  Be careful that you're signing for the right charges.  If called by your bank, don't give them any personal information but end the call and phone your bank back yourself.  Just be aware and think twice before giving any information or money to strangers.