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Phone scam targeting elderly residents


Area elderly residents are the target of a phone scam from people masquerading as family members in trouble. Usually the caller will claim to be a granddaughter or grandson who is being held by authorities in a foreign country.

When the victim gets the phone call, an example of a conversation may begin with, “Hi grandma, it’s me. I’m sorry to trouble you, but I’m on a class trip, and we were pulled over. They found some marijuana in the car, and now I’m in jail and need money sent to Madrid, Spain.”

The victim, thinking they know the caller, answers, “Alyssa, is that you?”

Now the victim is hooked. The caller has been given a name to continue the deception, and responds, “Yes, it’s Alyssa. Don’t tell mom and dad, they’ll be so upset.”

The perpetrator, armed with name of the granddaughter, will then proceed to convince the victim to send money.

Recently, an elderly woman in Saginaw Township received such a call. Believing it was her granddaughter, she withdrew $2,800 from her bank and sent it by Western Union. A day or so later, the scammer called back to find out if the money had been sent. The caller then told the woman another $2,800 was needed for attorney fees. The woman sent the money.

As if that wasn’t enough, the scammer called again and asked for more money – yet another $2,800. When the woman tried to send the money by Western Union for the third time, the assistant manager at Rite Aid, located at 4598 State Street in Saginaw, remembered the woman from the other two times, and suspecting a scam, suggested the woman go to the police department.

Another instance of a phone scam took place when an elderly man received a call from a man claiming to be his grandson. The scammer said he’d been detained by authorities in Quebec, Canada.

The elderly man was suspicious at first, but the caller was convincing enough to persuade him to send the money - $3,200. Fortunately, he used the same Rite Aid Western Union station, and the assistant manager immediately caught it. She sent him to the township police department.

The man had run a business on State St. for decades and was an auxiliary Sheriff’s Deputy, so he wasn’t someone you’d think could be scammed. That just demonstrates how even the most savvy individual can be fooled by these smooth-talking scam artists.

According to Gary P. Grauf, Detective/Lieutenant of the Saginaw Township Police, there have been two of these phone scams reported within a two-month period. He would like to form an alliance with area banks and Western Union stations to help prevent anyone else from being victimized by this scam. He thinks it most likely that the scammers have acquired a list of phone numbers from the AARP and other related organizations that are geared toward retired people and the elderly.

In a related incident, an email was received urging the recipient to send money. The email was written in a way that appeared to be from a friend, relating a sad story about a critically ill cousin in need of emergency surgery.

Some things that might help to prevent becoming a victim of one these scams is to communicate regularly with friends and members of your family, if possible and, most importantly, don’t give out any names when receiving a suspicious phone call. If you do receive a call like this, try to verify the story with other family members.

 

 

 

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