Con artists will go to great lengths to get between you and your money. Sadly, this includes taking advantage of your love for your family. They are putting a new twist on an old scam to target grandparents’ hearts and wallets.
How It Works
- Scammers will contact you, claiming to be your grandchild or calling on behalf of your grandchild.
- With a nod to the pandemic, they will explain your grandchild fell ill and was rushing to the hospital and wrecked his car — and possibly even hurt someone — and is now in jail.
- They’ll ask you to send money right away – often through a money transfer service or by purchasing gift cards and sharing the activation information on the back of the cards.
What You Should Know
- Contact is typically by phone, but could come through email, text and/or social media.
- The calls often come late at night – scammers hope you may be less clear-headed if you are tired or have been sleeping.
- The scammers will typically offer just enough detail to make the story seem convincing – they may even give the phone to another scammer who will claim to be a doctor, police officer or lawyer.
What You Should Do
- Ask the caller questions only your grandchild could answer, such as the name of your grandchild’s first pet or where he went to elementary school.
- Hang up and call your grandchild’s phone number or call other family members to see if they can verify the story.
- Check your privacy settings on social media to make sure only friends and family can see your posts and photos; otherwise, the information they can find about you can be used to deceive you in scams just like this.
- You can report scams and fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at tel:877-382-4357 or to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at tel:877-908-3360.