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"Grandparent Scam" Takes Advantage of ElderlyScammers claiming to be "grandchildren" in distress scam grandparentsANCHORAGE – The Consumer Unit of the Alaska Attorney General’s Office has been receiving a large amount of complaints about a scam known as the “Grandparent Scam.” The scam targets the elderly and the perpetrators claim to be grandchildren in different countries. Often, when asked, the callers will claim they sound different due to injuries, like a broken nose. "The girl said, 'hi grandma do you know who this is?' I said no," said Elain Fleetwood, and added the girl she was on the phone with sounded older. "She said, 'you don't know your own granddaughter?'" A grandparent to five granddaughters, she contemplated which one was on the line. "Melissa? 'Yes, it is Melissa.' I was feeding her the information." The perpetrator claimed to be in Canada for a wedding and had been thrown in jail for having drugs and alcohol in her vehicle. "I told her I was willing to help, but she needed to talk to her mom. I wasn't going to do anything behind her mom's back." The scammer then got angry with Fleetwood and told her she didn't want to upset her mother. "I asked to talk to someone at the police station and that is when I got cut off." Months later they called back, but they never got any money from this target. Fleetwood called police and they verified her concern that it was just a scam. Fleetwood is just one of many victims asked to wire large sums of money through Western Union to pay for medical or damage bills so their loved ones can return home. According to officials, the scammers will ask that they do not discuss the phone call with relatives, and by the time a victim has realized what has happened the money has disappeared. The scam is not limited to “grandparents.” Friends, aunts, uncles and other family members have been targeted. “Regardless of the details, these types of scams take advantage of the love and concern people have for family members and the consequences can be devastating,” said Attorney General Michael Geraghty, in a press release February 29. For more information or to file a complaint contact the Consumer Protection Unit at (907)-269-5200, or visit www.law.state.ak.us/consumer/ or http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/ . If you receive a similar call you are advised to hang up. Story in progress |
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Don said on Wednesday, Feb 29 at 9:01 PM
Hopefully KTVA will leave these websites on here,maybe even do research and a story about the BILLION's of dollars scammed in America each year.One site is called Romancescam.com.The site will educate you on who the scammers are,how they think and often have pictures of the real person you think your chatting with.The other site is called 419EATER.COM,this site has almost the entire history of scammers to date.I have saved a friend thousands of dollars looking at Romancescam.com.I encourage everyone to look at these sites and get educated.When anyone starts asking for a 10 digit Western Union code it's a scam.I'll tell them any number so they have to go to Western Union to get the money,less time their online scamming your grandparents.When they come back online saddened I'll say "Did I write "99" I meant "96",or "83" I meant "88".I will take days doing this. The longer you scam a scammer the less time they have to hunt elders.Look at those 2 sites and get empowered.Good Luck
82665524Becky said on Wednesday, Feb 29 at 10:21 PM
When I was visiting my mom She got a call asking for her. All her friends know she is deaf and uses Relay for calls. So I said I was she. The person says you just won 3.5 million dollars! Then he asks me how that makes me feel. I told him when I got off the phone I was going to take a nap! Since this was the second such call of the week I asked him how much money I needed to send him to get my 3.5 million. He says "just $3500." I tell the guy sorry but the other day I won 6 million dollars and I only had to send $800. you are too expensive" Then I hung up. My mom was in the dinning room with an insurance man. I went out and sheepishly told her "I'm so sorry mom I've lost 9.5 million of your dollars this week"! We had a harty laugh! Seriously they must have known my mom was elderly. Thank God she does not talk on a normal phone she does seem to be gullible to the point I want to pull my hair out.
82668973Becky said on Wednesday, Feb 29 at 10:29 PM
By the way, if you do get any of these bogus calls you might as well have a bit of fun with it like I did. I learned my lesson after the first call. I let the guy go on and on how I'd won and then I blasted him to Mars swearing at him! But that wasn't so much fun. The second call was more fun when I told him he was too expensive!
82669215TedtheBear said on Thursday, Jul 26 at 10:18 AM
I once had a call where I was told that I won a million dollars from some Financial group...I can have it in check or cash and it be deliever to me within 72 hours via FedEx. I told the caller that I am so happy and I want it in cash. Caller stated that is no problem but there will be a handling charge. I told the caller to just take it off the top of $1,000,000 cash he was to send me, there is no reason for me to send him any money from my end if he got my money on his end. There was a long silence from the other end before it click. I was really disappointed by that!!
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