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.

Grandparent Scams

The Consumer Law and Policy Blog posted this information about Grandparent Scams.

"It's Me Fraud"
by Jeff Sovern

Those of us at the University of Houston Teaching Consumer Law Conference last week were treated to a report on a type of fraud I personally had never heard of and that is so new, it goes under several names, including it's me fraud and grandparent fraud. Basically, someone calls a grandparent (or sometimes a parent) claiming to be his or her grandchild facing an emergency and in need of funds.

We at Scam Victims United have been reporting on this scam for years now, calling it the Grandparent Scam. The biggest target are seniors, and the scammers use the fact that the Grandparent will want to help out their grandchild no matter what the cost.

What we recommend is that the Grandparents set up a code word with thier grandchildren, so that if the grandchild really DOES need their help and they call the Grandparent can say "What is the code word?" and if the person on the other end of the phone does not know the code word then they will know it is a scam. Don't make the code word anything that could be found on the grandchild's social networking site info, like their high school or middle name.

Another thing that Grandparents can do if they get one of these calls and have NOT set up a code word with their grandchild is to think of a name that no one in your family has, in my case I would use something like Jenny, and then ask the "grandchild" that calls them "Is your sister Jenny with you too?" If the caller says anything like "Yes, Jenny is here." or "No, Jenny is at home." then the Grandparent would know it is a scam since there is no "Jenny".

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!