This happened twice to my parents. First one said, it was granddaughter in jail in Canada for drunk driving after a wedding in Niagara Falls. My father asked where, and said he would come and bail her out. They live 2 hours away. Meanwhile my mother called to ask me where my D was. I said studying for finals in Alabama. They played along. At one point a male came on the phone, saying he was a lawyer and could handle it. Grandpa insisted he would come and take care of himself. They hung up.
Next one said he was grandson in jail in DC. My mother asked why he didn’t call his aunt who lived there. She could bail him out. Scammer hung up. Grandparents had been with him in Rhode Island the day before.
Neither my mom nor I are on FB. I assumed it was scammer’s dumb luck. As I said earlier, I’ve gotten the calls myself when my kids were still minors living at home.
@VeryHappy, I was wondering how they knew he had a grandson as well. My Father doesn’t use a computer for any reason though, so no facebook. Maybe a senior’s group he belongs to sells their list, and it was a lucky guess on scammers part that they mentioned a grandson.
About a year ago I advised my mom about this scan. She was rather indignant that I would suggest she would fall for a scam. Well two months ago my brother calls me that my mom is on her way to Walmart because “Tommy” was in jail after being invoked in a car accident. Thankfully she called my brother who called me. Then we couldn’t contact her because she wouldn’t answer the cell. She had to go to the bank to get the money so I think she cashed out a CD. The cell was ringing when she was in Walmart and she answered. My brother convinced her to tell the guys that only my brother had access to the money. My other sibling was upset that mom thought Tommy would call her instead of his parents. Thankfullly my brother was told. When I spoke with my mom she told me she wasn’t stupid and didn’t fall for it :(. Really
My parents got on of these calls a few years ago from my “son” who claimed to be in trouble in Costa Rica. He was not in Costa Rica. My dad tricked the scammer by asking him what was his brothers name. The scammer did not answer. They knew it was likely a hoax but were very rattled by it and called me in a panic. They said it really sounded like his voice and couldn’t let go of it possibly being him.
@VeryHappy - My parents lived a retirement community at the time they got the call, so the callers pretty much knew the targets were senior citizens. My mom is now in assisted living at the same facility and would not be able to draw out cash quickly without help so I don’t worry about it as much as I did.