After an Idaho woman was scammed out of $8,000 over the phone, the Better Business Bureau is starting to take notice.

It's a scam that's becoming more and more frequent. Normally, scammers will target senior citizens with a corrupt plan catered just for them. Emily Valla from the BBB explains:

In this case, the caller claimed to be her grandson-in-law, who had supposedly gotten pulled over with a friend who had drugs. Through tears, the “grandson” explained he’d been arrested and was going to be transported to Pennsylvania unless someone could post bail.
The woman said the voice on the phone sounded exactly like her grandson-in-law, and the caller claimed to be in the Salt Lake City area, where her real family members live.
The scammers had done their homework. The “police” provided names, badge numbers, and took great efforts to make the situation sound legitimate.
Supposedly, the grandson could be freed and keep a clean record if he could come up with $8,150. There was one other condition, the deal had to be kept strictly confidential. The woman told us she knew the rest of the family probably couldn’t come up with the money, so she sent it. She said she was so emotionally stressed she didn’t think it through. That’s exactly what scammers want, an emotional response with little time to think.
So how can you help protect your family members from a similar ruse? The Better Business Bureau encourages to talk to your family about what course of action to take when you receive a similar phone call:
Be careful about providing information if you do pick up the phone. Scammers try to pull basic information out of you, like your grandchild’s name, age, or hometown, to make their stories seem more convincing. Remind each other to never send money to strangers via prepaid card, wire transfer, or cash, no matter the story. These methods are untraceable, and like in this story, gone for good.

Save

More From 103.5 KISS FM