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Elderly Beware!
The con: Elderly folk beware! Scammers are posing as your grandchildren to get money from you!
How it works: According to Consumeraffairs.com, the grandparents scam usually works like this: You receive a phone call from someone who greets you with, "Hi Grandma." "Hi." "Do you know who this is?" "Jeremy?" "Yeah!" Without knowing it, you just made a mistake. Instead of saying, "No, I don't know who this is," you supplied the scammer with the name of a grandchild. He then proceeds to impersonate that grandchild. The "grandchild" claims he's gotten into some kind of trouble -- auto accident, overdue rent, minor brush with the law -- and needs money to fix the situation. "Can you please help? But don't tell mum. She'd kill me if she found out!" This may seem like an obvious scam, but it's fooled plenty of people -- mostly because the scammers are good at what they do. They choose their targets carefully, tug on the heartstrings, and keep other family members "out of the loop" until it's too late. One scammer "victimized dozens of seniors and found his victims by scanning the phone book for old-fashioned sounding names. One of his victims, an 86-year-old grandmother, even had to use a walker in order to get to her bank and withdraw money for him." The scammers are cunning -- one couple could have sworn the guy REALLY was their grandson. Recommendation: There's one easy way to expose the fraud: DO NOT fill in any "blanks" for the scammer. For example: "Do you know who this is?" "No, I don't. Who is this?" "It's your granddaughter." "Really? Which one?" Most likely, the next sound you hear will be a click, followed by a dial tone. That's the easiest way not to fall for the grandparents scam. |
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Don't these people know the sound of their own grandchildren's voices or have they so many they've lost count? I've only got 2. The 8 year old lives with me and the 22 year old, on the very rare occasions he rings me, invariably mumbles, "Hi Nan it's Pete." Mind you, if he does ring, it's likely to be near Christmas or his birthday so he probably is hoping for a handout, being a student. Ah well, I'm not elderly - just slightly past my sell-by date.
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must agree west ender grand childer seldom ring unless made to by their parents and the surely we know there voices
but if they choose the wrong name surely the scams finished :confused: |
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An older person might not recognise the voice especially if they are getting confused.
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just how are they gettiong cash over teh phone? Surely if they are posting cash etc they know their Gchilds addresses?
The fact it says "auto-accident" means Jae has likely copied this verbatim from a merkin site. Its also likely to be an urban myth but ICBA to google |
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Erm thanks for that one. Its good to be aware ,,My grandchildren live in Burnley ,but i think if they neaded money they would not ask ,,,although their granddad is an easy touch,,,,,:):):).their mum pobably WOULD go mad if she thought they couldent ask her,,,,"what next."..:rolleyes:
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Voices sometimes sound different on the phone. It does seem unlikely that they actually get the money without the grandparent cottoning on though.
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The full story can be found here - "Grandparents Scam" Exposed |
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I just hope if I'm ever that senile my family put me in a home first :rolleyes:
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People like the scammers don't deserve to breath the same air as decent human beings. They are the scum of the earth!!
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If anyone calls me and calls me that G word i will spit in their eye and bugblind them........everyone, but everyone who knows me knows that I do not answer to that term of endearment.
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I actually nearly wet myself a couple of years ago as I was watching African Cup of Nations football and teh match of Nigeria(spiritual home of the scammer) vs someone else was sponsored by WU. |
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[quote=Jae Swift;497927]
One scammer "victimized dozens of seniors and found his victims by scanning the phone book for old-fashioned sounding names. i thought only your initial of your first name was used in the phonebook? how can you get an old fashion name from an initial |
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[quote=jackyalex;498434]
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You can have the entry the way you want it, in this country anyway. My dad always had his full first name in the book. What I wonder is, what's an old-fashioned sounding name? A lot of the old names have become popular again over the last 30 years. |
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My grandchildren call me Nana, mainly because I was only 42 when my grandson was born and grandma seemed a bit "old". Now I'm in my 60s I couldn't care less if they decided to change it to grandma. I'm a grandmother and a rose by any name.............etc. ;)
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I hate the name nana, sounds too much like Nanny and no way am I being a goat.but each to his/her own preference.
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good job I have children then, or monsters as they sometimes are..............
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I'm grandma but only because my mum is nan. I'm not really fussed either way, I've been called a lot worse over the years:D
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