Ohio Department of Aging
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September 2007
A New Low: The Grandkid Scam
Just when you may have thought scammers couldn't sink any lower, some have plunged to record depths. Recently, some scammers have bilked the elderly out of hundreds, even thousands of dollars by posing as "needy" grandchildren.
According to Consumeraffairs.com, the scam usually starts with a ring of the phone:
Caller: Hi Grandma.
You: Hi.
Caller: Do you know who this is?
You: I'm not sure.
Caller: It's your granddaughter.
You: Julie?
Caller: Yeah! Hi Grandma!
Without knowing it, you just tripped the trap. You've not only confirmed you have a grandchild, but you've also given the caller just enough information to impersonate her. "Julie" goes on to describe how she's gotten into some kind of trouble - auto accident, overdue rent, minor brush with the law - and needs money to fix the situation. "Can you please help? But don't tell mom. She'd kill me if she found out!"
This may seem like an obvious scam, but it has fooled plenty of people - mostly because the scammers are good at what they do. They choose their targets carefully, tug on the heartstrings and keep other family members "out of the loop" until it's too late. In one case, the thief let his fingers do the walking to find victims. He scanned the phone book looking for old-fashioned sounding names (e.g., Delores, Dorothy, Ruth, Alberta). Most of his victims were in their 80s and 90s.
There's an easy way to expose the fraud - DO NOT fill in any blanks for any caller:
Caller: Do you know who this is?
You: "No, I don't. Who is this?"
Caller: "It's your granddaughter."
You: "Really? Which one?"
Most likely, the next sound you hear will be a click, followed by a dial tone.
Source: ConsumerAffairs.com, ScamBusters.org
Ohio Department of Aging