Off Topic, Grandson In Trouble, Phone Scam!

[Terry, NJ]

OK, Here's the way it went down. Ten minutes ago some kid called up, pretending to be my grandson. The police had him for hitting some girl who had cut him off and it was going to take $25,000 to get out of it. The Actor even sounded a lot like him, but not enough like him to be convincing. The voice was different. I saw him just Saturday and I'm familiar with his voice. Supposedly he was in the police station (where ??) and the sergeant was qouting a price (?) to get out of it. When he hit me with the 25Gs I told him to shove it up his backside and hung up. This is the second time this has happened. I called the cops the first time and they told me it was quite common. Especially, with us grandparents, who'll generally do anything for our grandchildren. So be on the lookout!
Terry

[Ruth]

Thanks for the heads up Terry.

[gdmn852]

That happened to my wife’s sister,a similar scam . Luckily she called the police and asked about it, they said didn’t have him in lockup and it was all too common scam.Beware!!!

[Redbird]

Terry, I told them the exact same thing!

[Keith True]

That scam must be coming around again.4 or 5 years ago it was pretty heavy,then seemed to lay down for a while.I have fun with those guys.Usually the call isn't from somebody claiming to be the kid,but from somebody claiming to be in law enforcement.One said the grandson was arrested for molesting little girls,I told them that couldn't be right,he only liked to molest little boys.Another one I told was to collect the money from him,after all he is a millionaire.Another time I spent a half hour negotiating the price from $10,000 down to $3500.Then told the guy I'd changed my mind,the kid wasn't worth 35 cents.

[Tim Ayers]

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Originally Posted by Keith True

That scam must be coming around again.4 or 5 years ago it was pretty heavy,then seemed to lay down for a while.I have fun with those guys.Usually the call isn't from somebody claiming to be the kid,but from somebody claiming to be in law enforcement.One said the grandson was arrested for molesting little girls,I told them that couldn't be right,he only liked to molest little boys.Another one I told was to collect the money from him,after all he is a millionaire.Another time I spent a half hour negotiating the price from $10,000 down to $3500.Then told the guy I'd changed my mind,the kid wasn't worth 35 cents.

Hahahaha. That's great.

[Jim Brierley]

That's happened to us 3 times over the past few years, and like Keith, we just string them along and have fun with the caller. BTW, we don't even have any grandsons!

[arnhemmer]

I had the same type of call a few years back. it was my grandson asking me to bail him out. I just asked him what his name was and he gave me a wrong name. End of discussion.

[PC/SR]

Yep, I got a call from a grandson I did not know i had.

[Oldbluoval]

The scammers are very prolific right now. Don’t know what’s stoked them……I guess it’s the economy stupid!

[Y-Blockhead]

Terry, I don't answer my phone anymore unless their name is in my contacts and their name shows on my screen. With the new iPhones if their name is not in my contacts the iPhone directs it straight to SPAM. I tell friends if I don't answer then to text me or leave a message. It has gotten that bad.

[Synchro909]

I have that problem licked. I don't own a mobile phone and our land line has a silent number. Friends and relatives only.

[nkaminar]

Cousin of mine got hit by that scam and she paid. There was no way to retrieve the money. Her daughter took her bank access away. She is too old and suffers from too much dementia to be trusted with a check book.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by nkaminar

Cousin of mine got hit by that scam and she paid. There was no way to retrieve the money. Her daughter took her bank access away. She is too old and suffers from too much dementia to be trusted with a check book.

Sorry to hear that. That is who they like to hit, the most vulnerable.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Y-Blockhead

Sorry to hear that. That is who they like to hit, the most vulnerable.

IMO, Low life cowardly turds!

[51504bat]

Several years ago while I was still a law enforcement officer my dad almost fell for a similar scam. Dad was no dummy but being a typical grandfather he would have done anything for his grandson. Anyway he finally called to check to see if my son was under arrest in Canada before sending the requested $1500.00. When I found out I got in touch with a contact with the PD in my dad's town. They jumped right on it (helps to have the right contacts) and were going to coordinate a sting with the Canadian authorities. Unfortunately law enforcement in Canada said they had way too many similar scams and didn't have the resources to set up the bust for such a small amount. I guess these scammers know there is little or no chance of getting arrested so they keep trolling for other victims.

[[email protected]]

Teens late at night were talking on the entry intercom to the residents of a age restricted apartment building where my Mother in Law lived. Same deal…. “Grandma please let me in because I am in trouble.” One old woman who bought into this scam hit the front door lock release and let them in. They went to her apartment and brutalized her while robbing her. Police never caught the three teens. This all happened in a “safe” small midwestern town not a high crime big city. What people will stoop to for money and drugs….

[CarlG]

My "Grandson" called me a while back, same story -- in jail; send money. I told him he should contact his Dad, (who happens to be a Seattle Police Officer), who knows the ins and outs of such things, probably get him off scott free. I did string him along for a little bit then politely hung us.

Another time, I asked him "which grandson"? Are you the one in the Air Force, the one in the Marines, or the 4-year old in pre-school?

[1931 flamingo]

What's mind boggling is how many people fall for these scams and lose a ton of money.
Amazon keeps calling me to authorize purchases................


Paul in CT

[1929]

I get about 3 to 4 calls a day, I waste their time and play with them. I had the IRS call, the Viagra call, your father or brother was in a car accident call, the Medicare call, the car warranty call, amazon purchase call, computer hacked call etc. The best was when they said they were my insurance carrier, and that I complained about back problems, I said I never had, he said hold on for the supervisor, the supervisor became irate after asking If I complained about other issues that I said I never had, I then told him, wait your right, I did have a problem which I cant say here, he then hung up after cursing at me. I tell them the same thing when I get the Viagra calls.