The Grandparent Scheme

The police can’t catch them, the FBI can’t track them down. How can seniors protect themselves from senior fraud scams if the legal authorities can’t even trace these criminals? According to CBS News, scammers can make more than ten-thousand dollars a day by tricking the elderly into believing that the caller is their grandchild. Sometimes, the connection is purposely fuzzy or coming from a noisy location. Other times, the caller will call in middle of the night when grandparents are not fully awake. Sometimes they will just say, “Hi Grandma (or Grandpa), and the grandparent themselves will reveal the name. The scammer does not always have to know the name of the grandchild – the grandparent will utter the name herself. The scammer swears the grandparent to secrecy either claiming the grandchild does not want his parents to know or the scammer claims he is being threatened with arrest or lawsuit if the grandparent tell anyone.

Pick the scam you would be least likely to fall for. You are still not protected. Doctors, psychologist and lawyers and other professional have fallen hard for these schemes.You say it will never happen to you – don’t be so sure. If you are a loving and devoted grandparent, who does not know the exact whereabouts of your adult grandchild at all times, you are in danger of these deceptions. We will give you a few actual senior fraud scams scenarios that happened to trusting grandparents. Be aware that once you wire money or transfer it, it is lost. There is really no way to retrieve it. Most of the time, the scammers use prepaid cell phones that cannot be traced, and the way international transfers operate makes it practically impossible to catch the impostors. Interestingly, legal authorities do know that most of the scams originate in Canada, Puerto Rico, China and Haiti. Of course, that is not to say that this embezzlement is not perpetrated from other places.

The New York Times ran a personal essay from well-known novelist Christine Sneed. Fraudsters called her grandfather claiming that she had lost her passport in Spain. Her grandfather wired six-thousand dollars to help her. He lost his trust in the phone after finding out it was a scam and will no longer accept his granddaughter’s phone calls.

Johnathan called his grandmother last week when he got into trouble. He was arrested overseas while traveling. Johnathan could not go into details because the connection was weak and he didn’t have much time. If his grandma does not want him in jail – she must post bail by wiring thousands of dollars to him immediately. Without hesitation, as if under a spell, the grandmother robotically runs to the local Western Union and wires the money to the address given to her by her “grandson”. When meeting her grandson the next week , Jonathan did not speak about the money or the trip. She too remained silent, loyally keeping “their” secret from his parents. Often the grandparents do not ever realize they have been scammed or are afraid to tell their children since they won’t be trusted with their own money. Wiring money through Western Union or Money Gram is akin to sending cash. The sender is not protected in any way.

Another example of one of these schemes is a pair of Michigan grandparents who were scammed of thirty- three thousand dollars! The caller whom they thought was their grandson, called and said that he was in Canada on vacation and was caught fishing without a license. First, he asked for three-thousand dollars to pay the fine for lack of a fishing license. The grandson called a second time saying that while he was boating, his boat was searched. The police found drugs and alcohol on board and he needed an additional thirty thousand dollars to get out of a Canadian jail.

One eighty-one year old grandmother from California whom required around the clock home care, received a frantic call from her twenty-nine year old grandson claiming arrest in North Carolina for drunk driving. “All I wanted”, said the grandmother, “was for him to be back home with his family not in jail!”. She was moved to tears when he said, “ I love you Grandma”. She instantly sent eighteen-thousand dollars to a bank account in North Carolina as requested by the scammer. She later found out the truth, her grandson never stepped foot in North Carolina but her money was gone.

A variation of this idea, is a deception that has two people as scammers. One guy calls and poses as the grandchild and the second guy poses as a police officer. First the grandchild speaks and informs the grandparent that he has been arrested. The second guy gets on the phone and explains exactly why her grandson was arrested and the fines the grandparent must pay so that the grandchild will avoid jail. 

Frantic phone calls from loved ones, sons, daughters and grandchildren trigger an emotional button that cannot be explained rationally. Often there is a fuzzy connection or the person sounds hysterical or crying. “Of course this is my loved one – there is no doubt”, the grandparent is convinced. But looking back after the incident many of the victims will tell you that there were signs that the person on the phone was not authentic. Since the grandparent is so upset he or she may not realize that their relative did not give his name, and the scammer elicited the name of the grandchild from the victim himself. The words, “hi Grandma” or “hi Grandpa” already churn up feelings of love and warmth. Who doesn’t cherish a call from their grandchild? Many seniors don’t get calls from their grandchildren so often. Now when the desperate child, “chooses” them as their confidant, the desire to help overrules any rational judgment. Some grandparents do not even realize that they have been scammed and believe with all their hearts that they have helped their grandchild solve their problem and keep the secret safe from their parents. Isn’t that what grandparents are for?

It is crucial for seniors to be not only aware of these deceptions but also to pre-plan for such a scenario. Here is a typical conversation that takes place between the caller and the grandparent. Follow closely so you can memorize what is going to happen if you are called.

1) The scammer calls and asks if you recognize him.

2) You think he is your grandson and automatically say his name.

3) The defrauder repeats the name. For example, he says, “ Yes, this is Sam”. Next, he tells you about a dire and urgent situation. For example, a car accident with injuries to the other party, a drug setup where he is caught with drugs or that he is on vacation and his wallet and passport were stolen.

4) He then begs you to send him a large sum of money. Many times he will tell you that it must be kept secret from everyone including his parents. If you acquiesce to the scammers demand and transfer the funds or send money, you will never see your money again.

There are several ways for seniors to avoid becoming victims of the Grandparents Scam. However, we can only help you avert the scams that have happened in the past. Countries are always on the tails of terrorists, so why do we still have terrorists succeeding in new approaches? When the shoe bomber introduced himself, we all had to take off our shoes at the airport. When someone brought in explosives through liquids we were instructed to carry only a small size container for a liquid. These precautions were only introduced after the attacks occurred. Similarly we can only give you advice with the experience that unfortunate seniors have gone through in the past. Hopefully, after learning the tactics that have been used in the past, all of us will have the foresight, knowledge and emotional control to make sure we are not victims.

Here is a list of recommendations to protect against this ghastly form of senior fraud.

1) Verify that the person calling is actually your grandchild. Ask questions that only your real grandchild can answer.

2) Call the grandchild on his regular cell phone line and verify that he is okay.

3) Contact their parents even if they tell you not to.

4) Resist the pressure to send money secretly and immediately or through money wire transfer and overnight delivery such as FedEx.

5) Have a secret family word to authenticate that it is a true family member who is calling.

6) All people, grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren should limit the amount of personal information that they share on the internet. Scammers may be finding their sacrifices on the Internet. Facebook or other social networking websites make public people’s vacation plans. Some people have videos on YouTube that are self published with their names and the scammer can learn their voice this way.

7) Never divulge any personal identifying information to anyone who calls. This includes bank account or credit card numbers.

If you are the unfortunate victim of a scam artist, here are some numbers for you to call immediately.

1) For money transfer frauds, call the complaint department of Money Gram at 800-MONEYGRAM (800-666-3947) or Western Union at 800-4481492.

2) File a complaint with your local police department and the Federal Trade Commission (877-382-4357)

3) For phone calls originating in Canada, call PhoneBusters hotline at 888-495-8501

If you ever need help sorting through complex issues you can speak to a local senior advisor to review the situation at hand. The Senior Comfort Guide is here to be your local resources for senior care such as assisted living Cleveland Ohio and many other senior services. Feel free to check out our free local senior directory for Northeast Ohio.

Author: Steven McNeil