Powerful Words

"Grandma . . . I need your help."

These are powerful words.  Grandparent's will often do ANYTHING for their grandchildren, even if they know that it might not be the best idea . . . letting them stay up late, eat something that Mom and Dad say they can't have, or watch a movie that they shouldn't watch.  They do these things because they are Grandparents and they will do anything for their grandchild.

So what happens if this Grandparent gets a call in the middle of the night that their grandchild has been arrested and needs money for bail?  Many of these Grandparents will do what they always do with their grandchildren . . . react to fix things and help and then figure out the details later . . . their grandchild is all that matters!

This is what gets so many into trouble with the Grandparent Scams, like the one that hit the elderly couple in this story.  When I was reading the story, I noticed that the Grandmother stated that after she wired the money she called her grandson to verify that the got the money . . . she realized she had been scammed when her grandson did not know what she was talking about.

This is why we need to teach everyone, especially our Grandparents, that if they get a call like this the first thing that they need to do is tell the caller they will call them right back, then hang up the phone and call their grandchild.  If it was really their grandchild on the phone, they will answer the phone and Grandma and Grandpa can still be there to help them out.  If it was not their grandchild, the worst thing that will happen is that they will be waking them up in the middle of the night, but at least that way they can go back to sleep knowing that their grandchild is safe.