04DayTri Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Has anyone heard of this or experienced it? Yesterday at about 10 am my grandma received a call from a person pretending to be me and saying the were in philledelphia and had went to a hockey game the night before and got drunk and arrested and needed $2200 to get out of jail. Thankfully my grandma knew it was not me and said it did not sound like me and hung up. But they have called back 2x's since then. You cant call them back because it shows up as your number on the caller ID, and cops said theres not much they can do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granda080 Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yeah, this was on one of those news shows (dateline) or something. It's pretty sleezy trying to take advantage of the elderly. If I remember they got ahold of AARP list or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thGix Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 I have heard of it before. Maybe on Clark Howard's show or something. But yeah its a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowdog Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just heard the other day an elderly women in Ohio was scammed for over $20,000 thinking her grandson was in jail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04DayTri Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 well yea i know its a scam, because I am not in Philly lol. Just looking for options of what to do possibly since the local cops say there's nothing they can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04DayTri Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 holy shit $20,000??? that makes me mad just thinking about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWing'R Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 You cant call them back because it shows up as your number on the caller ID.Hmmm, maybe you mean it shows up as PRIVATE or blocked. The scammerwould have to know your grandparents number, your name and your number topull it off like you are describing.I don't think that's how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowdog Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 holy shit $20,000??? that makes me mad just thinking about itYes, very sad!! NBC 4 did a big story on this last week. Not much one can do if they have been scammed because chances are its from another country. About all we can do is try and educate the elderly that this is happening so they do not fall for it. I would hope my Grandparents would call me or my parents before sending any money but these scammers do this shit for a living and are very convincing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04DayTri Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 My grandma said she checked the caller ID and it showed up as her house phone number. They also knew her and my grandpas name along with mine. When she told them it didnt sound like me they claimed to be sick/ have a sore throat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Z. Heimer Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yes I have heard of that. what you need to do is get together with your grandparents and create a SafeWord so if it ever happens again they will have a better idea of what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 There are those apps on smartphones now where you can dial a number and have it show up as someone else number. I don't know how it would appear on the bill as an incoming number. I'm sure you could get a print out from your wireless/ telephone company and find out where it's coming from, I'm sure nothing would be done about it though.I'd be a little worried about how they know as much information about you as they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04DayTri Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yea its definitely not a good feeling knowing that info is out there. My grandpa is a retired state trooper and fraud investigator though, so hes talking to some old co workers to see what can/needs to be done. At least they didnt send any money, but the 3 calls in 24 hours is a bit excessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magley64 Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 it's pretty popular... but any scam that works will get popular...luckily my only surviving grandparent lives 2 miles from my parents so they can figure out where i am in short order... also she knows better than to wire money to anyone, if anything i'd ask her to deposit money in my account... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWing'R Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) My grandma said she checked the caller ID and it showed up as her house phone number.Ok, that makes a little more sense.There are those apps on smartphones now where you can dial a number and have it show up as someone else number.^^ This.I'd be a little worried about how they know as much information about you as they do.Yea its definitely not a good feeling knowing that info is out there.Oh you'd be surprised how much info is out there in public databases about you and your loved ones.Check yourself out here and be amazed... http://www.zabasearch.com/Look yourself up, then click on MORE INFO and watch it pull up your relatives names!. Edited March 1, 2012 by SWing'R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Pretty common scam. They will actually research their mark and get the grandchild's name, birth date, where they work, etc so it sounds pretty legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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