SCAM ALERT: Grandparents telephone scam - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

Better Business Bureau is warning senior citizens to be aware of a telephone scam that is preying on grandparents nationwide. 

Although variations of this scam have been around for a long time, it has become more sophisticated with the proliferation of information on the Internet. 

BBB has been receiving reports about grandparents who thought they were aiding their grandchildren by providing money for an emergency situation but were in fact giving thousands of dollars to Canadian con artists.

Generally, the scam works like this – the grandparent receives a distressed phone call from who they believe is their grandchild. The supposed grandchild typically explains that they are traveling in Canada and have been arrested or involved in an auto accident and need the grandparent to wire money to post bail or pay for damages—usually amounting to a few thousand dollars. While many seniors have reported the scam without falling prey to it, unfortunately, many others have been victimized. One well-meaning grandmother sent $15,000 to scammers, thinking she was helping a grandchild who had been in an auto accident.

The scam is also named "emergency scam" as the call may come with a different but always urgent 'tail of woe'.  Too often people are allowing themselves to get caught up in the false sense of urgency and they end up making emotional, instead of logical, decisions.

Given the sudden pervasiveness of the scam, several state Attorneys General have issued warnings. In addition, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre is reporting a significant increase in complaints for this scam.  Law enforcement officials are not certain how perpetrators are obtaining phone numbers for so many senior citizens across the U.S. However, it is believed that scammers are most likely calling random numbers until they happen to reach a senior citizen. The scammers' basic tactic is to pose as a grandchild and let the unsuspecting grandparent fill in the blanks. For example, the scam caller might say, "It's me, your favorite grandchild," to which the grandparent will guess the name of the grandchild it sounds the most like, and then the call proceeds from there.

To protect themselves from this scam, and other scams that may use a distressed loved-one tactic, BBB is advising seniors to confirm the status of the individual by calling them directly or verifying the story with other family members before taking any further action. Ask a personal question that only a real grandchild would know.  It is prudent to ignore callers insisting on secrecy; call police to help verify legitimacy of a questionable call instead. 

BBB also advises that any request to wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram should be seen as a "red flag" and an immediate tip-off that the call may be part of a scam. Funds sent via wire transfer are hard to track once received by scammers and are usually not recoverable by law enforcement or banking officials.

For anyone victimized by this type of distressed loved-one call, BBB recommends reporting the incident immediately to local police departments and state Attorneys General offices. If there is a request to wire money to Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre has established the PhoneBusters hotline and Web site to report such fraud. Reports can be filed easily online through the PhoneBusters site at: www.phonebusters.com, or by phone, toll free at, 1-888-495-8501.