Greg's Corner

Grandparent scammer gets victim to pay twice

By Greg Collier

One of the more cruel things about scams is that once a scammer finds a victim who gives them money, the scammers will try to get more money out of that victim. Take the puppy scam, for example. Once the victim pays for a puppy that doesn’t exist, the scammers will send the victim repeated requests for money under the guise of special travel crates, insurance, and emergency vet fees. Unfortunately, we’ve seen multiple victims of the puppy scam pay multiple payments to their scammers. While the puppy scam is the more common scam where multiple payments happen, it can occur in almost any scam. An elderly Florida woman sadly found that out the hard way when she fell victim to the grandparent scam.

For those who may be unfamiliar, the grandparent scam is when scammers pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren. They’ll call the victim claiming to be in some kind of trouble and need money to bail them out.

In this instance, the scammer called the Florida woman, claiming to be her grandson. He said he got into a car accident with a pregnant woman who lost her baby. This is a common claim used in grandparent scams, as it tries to make the phony charges seem serious while also trying to garner sympathy from the victim. Scammers are masters of emotional manipulation.

The ‘grandchild’ then handed the call over to someone he said was his friend’s father, who just happened to be an attorney. In actuality, the attorney was the scammer’s partner, who put on a good enough show.

The phony attorney told the woman her grandson needed $36,000 for bail. When the woman told the scammer she didn’t have that kind of money, the scammer settled for $18,000. After she withdrew that money from the bank, she was instructed a courier would come by her home and pick up the money.

That’s not how bail works in the real world. Once bail is set, it typically stays at that amount. It can go up, but it seldomly goes down. Also, bail is never picked up by a courier. It’s typically paid at the courthouse or through a bail bondsman.

You would think that $18,000 would be enough for this scammer, but they kept making more ridiculous claims in order to get more money. The fake attorney told the woman that her grandson was caught taking selfies in the courtroom, which incurred an increase in bail of $16,000. This time, the woman was told to send cash through FedEx to another state, and that the judge placed a gag order on the case, meaning she couldn’t talk to anyone about the matter, including family.

If someone were to be arrested, they would not be allowed to have their phone on them in the courtroom, so courtroom selfies are highly unlikely. Scammers will also use the gag order card to prevent victims from talking to other family members. That’s not how a gag order works, however. Gag orders are typically only issued to participants of a trial. If someone tries to tell you over the phone, there’s a gag order in place, they’re more than likely trying to scam you. No one can stop you from talking to your family.

Then the scammer tried to get a third payment from the grandmother, The scammer claimed that the grandson violated the gag order and the bail had been raised another $12,000. When the woman tried to get the $12,000 from her bank, she was told by a bank employee, she was told she was being scammed.

To avoid falling victim to the grandparent scam, it’s important to be skeptical of unexpected phone calls or emails from people claiming to be a grandchild in distress. Don’t give out personal information or money without verifying the identity of the caller. If you are unsure if the person is truly a grandchild, ask them questions that only your real grandchild would know the answer to. Additionally, consider setting up a code word with your grandchildren to confirm their identity before providing any information or assistance. Lastly, if you do receive a suspicious call or email, please report it to the appropriate authorities.