GRANDPARENT SCAM
Contact: Lt. Blake Wells
Montpelier Police Department
208-847-1324
Date: 3/19/2012
FOR IMMEDIARE RELEASE
MONTPELIER - The Montpelier Police Department has seen a recent increase in a scam called the “Grandparent Scam”. We would like to warn the public about over-the-phone scams directed at the elderly, in which a person posing as the target’s grandson or granddaughter claims to be in need of money in a foreign country and asks for a wire transfer of funds, typically in the thousands of dollars. In these “grandparent scams,” the caller, who is not actually a grandchild, says that he or she has been in a car accident, or is in police custody, or for some other reason needs money, and directs the senior citizen to send a wire transfer through Western Union or MoneyGram.
The callers are actually cross-border criminals who take the grandparent’s money and run. Typically they use untraceable cell phones and display forged IDs to pick up the wire transfers. Once the money is wired, it is not recoverable.
The Montpelier Police Department advises not to send any money whatsoever in response to these calls. If there is any question about whether a relative is actually in need of funds abroad, people should first contact other members of their family to verify that the relative is really out of the country and in trouble, and then work with their family to provide assistance.
If you've been victimized by a scammer, file a report with your local police or sheriff's office. You can also contact the Idaho Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, 334–2424 or 800-432–3545.
