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  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 18, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam, , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Police Impersonation Scams 

    Scam Round Up: Police Impersonation Scams

    By Greg Collier

    We often say the jury duty scam is probably the most common scam going if news reports are any indication. As we do research for this blog, we’ll find news stories about the jury duty scam on an almost daily basis. The jury duty scam is a form of another scam called the police impersonation scam, since the jury duty scam always involves the scammer posing as police. However, that is only one version of the police impersonation scam. Today, we’re bringing you three police impersonation scams that are happening around the country.

    You might have guesses that our first story is the arrest warrant scam. This is where scammers will call a victim while posing as police and telling the victim they have a warrant out for their arrest. Recently, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI has issued a warning that scammers are posing as the FBI. The phone calls to victims even show up as the FBI on caller IDs. Along with the threat of arrest, victims are being asked to purchase pre-paid debit cards and give the numbers to the scammers. The scammers claim these are to prove the victim’s identity.

    As with most police impersonation scams, real police do not call people who have warrants out for their arrest. Police would never give a real suspect a chance like that to flee.

    In Lawrence, Kansas, at least one victim has received phone calls that appeared to have come from the Lawrence Police Department. The caller accused the victim of harassment, while the caller ID carried a non-emergency number used by the LPD. The victim hung up on the caller and called the actual LPD. While the victim was on the phone with the LPD, the scammer called three more times.

    The LPD recommends if you receive a call like that, ask the caller for a name and badge number, then call the department the caller claims to be from.

    In Columbus, Ohio, the parents of a college-aged athlete got the scare of their life from a scammer. They received a call from someone claiming to be with the campus police from Ohio State University. The scammer claimed the couple’s daughter was arrested while leaving a nightclub, and if the parents didn’t pay $2000 their daughter would be turned over to the Columbus Police Department. Again, the caller ID had the number of the OSUPD.

    The parents didn’t fall for the scam, as their daughter had a game the next day, and she wouldn’t typically go out the night before a game. It turns out, the scammer targeted the parents of a number of athletes from the same team.

    If you think this sounds a lot like the grandparent scam, you’d be correct, as the grandparent scam is also another version of a police impersonation scam.

    If someone claims to be a police officer, ask for their name, badge number, and the name of the department they work for. You can then call the police department directly to verify their identity. Try to avoid volunteering any personal information, as that can be used against you while the scam is taking place. Lastly, never give the scammers any money. No legitimate law enforcement officer or agency will ever ask for money over the phone.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam,   

    Elderly couple helps bust scammers 

    Elderly couple helps bust scammers

    By Greg Collier

    Recently, the grandparent scam made its way through a part of Western Michigan along the shore of Lake Michigan. The grandparent scam is a type of fraud where scammers target elderly victims by impersonating their grandchild over the phone. The scammer will claim to be in legal trouble and ask for money to cover bail or other legal fees. To make the scam more convincing, the scammer may transfer the call to another individual pretending to be an attorney, police officer, or bail bondsman. This tactic has been used in numerous instances to trick victims into handing over their money.

    At least three sets of victims from Muskegon County in Michigan reported being approached by grandparent scammers. The first was an elderly woman who has difficulty hearing. As a result, she believed she was actually talking to her grandson. The phony grandson said he needed $9000 for bail money after getting into a car accident.

    The woman received another call from someone claiming to be her grandson’s attorney. That caller said he would meet with the woman, so he could collect the money that would bail out her grandson.

    The next day, the woman received another call from someone claiming to be the judge presiding over her grandson’s case. They said that the person her grandson was in an accident with died and the insurance company was requesting $25,000 to settle the matter out of court. The ‘judge’ was quick to settle on $19,000 since that was all the woman had.

    She was instructed to send cash through UPS to an address in Atlanta. After she dropped off the package, she had second thoughts and called the police. They were able top intercept the package before it reached its destination, but the initial $9000 was still lost. However, this is a great example of how scammers will almost always try to get more money out of a victim once the victim has made an initial payment to them.

    The next day, an elderly couple was called and someone posing as their grandson said they needed $25,000 for bail after getting into an accident with a politician. The call was then handed over to someone posing as the defense attorney. They told the grandparents that since a politician was involved in the crash, there was a gag order on the case. This supposedly meant that the grandparents couldn’t talk to anyone about the call. When asked why their grandson sounded so different, the caller responded that the grandson had come down with strep throat. As the grandfather was going to the bank, he started having second thoughts as well. He called his grandson, who was not in jail and did not have strep throat.

    The couple called the police, who had the couple arrange for the money to be picked up. When the scammers showed up to collect the money, they were arrested. The suspects from Florida are believed to be involved with a number of grandparent scams in the area. There was a third family in the area who were allegedly approached by the scammers, but they did not take the bait.

    The second scam attempt shows that scammers typically have an answer for every question you give them. Previously, we’ve heard of scammers saying the grandchild had a broken nose or missing teeth from the accident as why they sounded different. Scammers also love using the threat of a gag order to try to prevent the scam victim from speaking with anyone who might be familiar with the scam. Again, that’s not how gag orders work. No one can legally stop you from talking. Thankfully, the grandfather did the right thing by calling his grandson to make sure he wasn’t in jail. That should always be your first step when approached with a situation like this. And no matter what the caller says, you can talk to your family about it.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on March 6, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam, ,   

    AI voices used in grandparent scam 

    AI voices used in grandparent scam

    By Greg Collier

    If you follow the tech news at all, you’ll no doubt have heard about how artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly popular in the past year or so. You may have heard of the art generator known as DALL-E. It can produce images using any prompt you can give it. For example, the above picture was generated with an AI program called Stable Diffusion, using the prompt of ‘AI Voice’. You may have also heard of ChatGPT, a text-based AI that can generate just about anything in text form. Do you want to craft a professional sounding email to your boss? ChatGPT can generate that for you. Do you want ChatGPT to craft the lyrics of a song in the style of The Doors about soup? It can do that too.

    However, the more important question is, is AI advanced enough to be used in scams? Yes, it is.

    This past weekend, The Washington Post published a story about AI being used in one of the more common scams we post about, the grandparent scam. For those who may be unfamiliar, The grandparent scam is a type of phone scam where fraudsters impersonate a grandchild or other family member in distress to trick elderly individuals into sending them money. Typically, scammers will tell their elderly victims that they’ve had some kind of facial injury such as a broken nose as to why their voice sounds different from their actual grandchild.

    According to the Post, scammers are now using AI voice-cloning technology to sound exactly like the person they’re impersonating. Victims from both Canada and the United States have lost thousands of dollars to scammers using this technology.

    While voice cloning technology is nothing new, it has advanced exponentially in the past couple of years. It used to be someone would need vast amounts of recordings to accurately clone someone’s voice. Now, it only takes a 30-second recording to do so. If someone you know has posted a video or recording of themselves on social media where they’re talking, their voice can now be cloned.

    You can still protect yourself from this scam, as long as you disregard what your ears are telling you. If you receive a call from a relative or loved one asking for money because they’re in trouble, you should still follow the same precautions, even if it sounds exactly like them. Hang up on the call and contact the person who’s supposedly in trouble. If you can’t reach them, ask other family members who might know where they are. Tell them the exact situation you encountered, and never keep it a secret. Lastly, never send money under any means.

     

  • Geebo 9:01 am on February 28, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: grandparent scam, , , ,   

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams 

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams

    By Greg Collier

    It wasn’t too long ago when we wondered if scammers were putting rideshare drivers in danger. That’s because scammers are using rideshare drivers as unwitting couriers or chauffeurs. In most instances, the scammers will use rideshares like Uber and Lyft to collect packages of cash from their victims. In other instances, scammers have sent rideshares to their victims’ homes, so the victim can be taken to the bank to get more money for the scammers. This has led to confusion on the part of police, where they don’t know whether the rideshare driver is involved in the scam or not. While no driver that we know of has been injured by police, it can only take one wrong move for the situation to escalate in violence.

    More recently, we’ve learned that not only are the scammers using rideshare drivers as couriers, but the drivers are being asked to drive across state lines to deliver stolen cash. In Western, Pennsylvania, an elderly woman lost $25,000 in a grandparent scam. Believing her grandson was in legal trouble, she gave a package with the money inside to a rideshare driver that the scammers had called for her.

    As can be usual with scammers, once they took money from the victim once, they tried to get more. When the new driver showed up to collect the package, he told the grandmother that his destination was somewhere in New Jersey. If you’re not familiar with the geography of the Northeast, that’s roughly a 12-hour round trip, depending on where in New Jersey the driver was headed. Let’s say that the driver was going from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City. Not only is that a 12-hour or more round trip depending on traffic, but it’s also a $1000 trip. The scammers can afford it since they’re getting thousands of dollars from their victims.

    In case you were wondering, like we were, rideshare drivers get around 25% of the fare. So, a trip from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City would be a thousand dollars, but the driver would have to drive for 12 hours. That comes out to $250 for the driver, which is around $21/hr. This does not take gas and tolls that the driver would need to pay out of their own pocket. We’d love to hear from rideshare drivers if this would be a fare they would be interested in taking. Is it worth the money?

    Thankfully, the second driver was stopped by police after the grandmother realized she had been scammed. State Troopers escorted the driver to New Jersey, where they arrested two men alleged to be behind the scam.

    While both Lyft and Uber both have parcel delivery services, we would suggest that both companies need to educate their drivers on how to be on the lookout for scams and illegal activity. Maybe have their drivers go through a checklist with the sender about various scams, such as the grandparent scam. Such a small step could go a long way in helping prevent scam victims from losing their money.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on February 17, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: grandparent scam, , , ,   

    Are scammers putting rideshare drivers in danger? 

    By Greg Collier

    More and more scammers are using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft to be unwitting participants in their scams. This is largely seen with the grandparent scam, where the scammers use the rideshare services as couriers when collecting the money from their victims. To be clear, the rideshare drivers are almost always never aware that they’re being used in such a scam. However, a recent scam where a rideshare was involved made us realize what kind of danger scammers are putting the drivers in.

    The grandparent scam is a common scam that targets older individuals by preying on their emotions. Scammers will call and pretend to be a grandchild or another family member who is in trouble and needs money urgently. They may claim to be in jail, stuck in a foreign country, or in some other kind of distress. The scammer will ask the grandparent to send money via wire transfer, gift cards, or other untraceable methods, and will often urge the grandparent not to tell anyone else in the family.

    A grandmother from the Boston area almost fell victim to the scam but was still placed in a dangerous situation. While at the bank withdrawing $9000 to send to the scammers, a bank teller became suspicious, and was able to prevent the grandmother from losing any money. However, the grandmother was driven to the bank by a white van and the van didn’t stick around as the grandmother was in the bank.

    Initially, police believed the driver of the van had some kind of involvement in the scam. The driver was described as an older man. It was later determined by police that the man worked for a rideshare service, but was hired by the scammers. While no report we read said how police approached the man, if the driver was stopped on the street and made one inadvertent false move, this story could have had a much more tragic ending. Then the scammers would have been responsible for a much more heinous crime while potentially avoiding prosecution.

    We don’t know if rideshare drivers are educated to be on the lookout for potential scam victims, but they should be. Whether picking up a passenger or delivering a suspicious parcel, maybe drivers should start asking questions. We would think that a grandmother getting a ride to their bank might be a red flag.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on February 14, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam, ,   

    Roaming Scammers: Fraudsters on the Move 

    By Greg Collier

    When we think of scammers, we tend to think of the stereotypical scammer from overseas. While there is some truth in that stereotype, America has its fair share of scammers, and they might be on their way to where you live.

    While the majority of scams can be done remotely, there are some that require a more personal touch by the scammers. The grandparent scam is one of those scams. The grandparent scam is a common tactic used by fraudsters to trick elderly individuals into paying a large sum of money. The scammer pretends to be the victim’s grandchild, who is supposedly in legal trouble, often due to a fabricated car accident. To convince the victim to pay, the scammer may also impersonate a police officer or a lawyer. The end goal of this scam remains the same, which is to trick the victim into paying the scammer a large amount of money.

    For the grandparent scam to be successful, the scammer must be able to mimic the voice of the victim’s grandchild on the phone. This is why this type of scam is not typically carried out by scammers operating from overseas. To collect the money quickly, the scammer must be in the same geographical location as the victim. As a result, grandparent scammers often travel around the country in search of new, unsuspecting victims. This mobility also allows them to quickly move on to another area once they have either made enough money or if the authorities start to investigate.

    Three scammers from New York City had a run-in with the law during their trip to Syracuse, New York. Despite the long drive, the trio rented an Airbnb as they targeted their unsuspecting victims. The scammers were reported to have successfully conned an elderly couple out of $9500 before making two more attempts to extract more money. On their fourth call, they were caught red-handed as the police listened in on the line. Despite their brief stay in Syracuse, the trio of scammers were able to deceive their victims out of a staggering $24,000. Had they been able to move on undetected, it is uncertain how many more individuals would have fallen prey to their deceitful schemes.

    To safeguard yourself from the grandparent scam, it’s crucial to approach unexpected phone calls or emails from people claiming to be a grandchild in distress with skepticism. Never disclose personal information or money until you have verified the identity of the caller. To confirm their identity, try asking questions that only your real grandchild would know the answer to. Another precautionary measure is to establish a code word with your grandchildren to use in such situations. If you suspect a call or email to be fraudulent, don’t hesitate to report it to the authorities.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 25, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam, , ,   

    What role do rideshares play in the grandparent scam? 

    By Greg Collier

    When we first started seeing reports of the grandparent scam, the scammers would have their victims make payments through methods like sending cash in the mail, or gift cards. When people started catching on to the scam, the scammers themselves would pose as couriers to pick up the money themselves. In a risky move, the scammers would go to the victims’ homes to pick up the money. This has resulted in multiple arrests of scammers. This has caused scammers to adjust their methods once again to start using unwitting participants in their scam, rideshare drivers.

    As always, for first time readers, we like to educate them about what the scam entails. The grandparent scam is a pretty malevolent scam. The scammers mostly target the elderly with this scam, hence the name. They’ll call their elderly victims on the phone and pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren, a police officer, or an attorney. The victim will be told their grandchild is in some kind of legal trouble, usually a car accident, and they need money for bail. The scammers will also tell their victims they can’t tell anyone else in the family, either out of embarrassment or threat of legal action. Victims of the grandparent scam typically lose thousands of dollars to the scammers.

    But getting back to the topic at hand, grandparent scammers have increased their use of rideshare drivers as couriers. Recently, in Southern Florida, police in Port St. Lucie have encountered a number of victims of the scam who have lost a total of almost $100,000. In each case, an Uber was sent to their home to pick up the money.

    To be clear, the Uber drivers had no idea what they were delivering. Outside of rideshares, Uber also offers a same day local parcel delivery service. Unfortunately, the drivers weren’t delivering the victim’s money to a residence or business. Instead, they were delivered to someone standing on a street corner in Fort Lauderdale. So far, no arrests have been made.

    So, does Uber bear any responsibility in these scams? That’s debatable, it seems. It does seem a little sketchy that they would deliver a package to someone on the streets. A service like that could be used for all manner of illegal activity. That could put the drivers in more danger as well. Ultimately, Uber isn’t in the business of looking out for scammers, which leaves it up to prospective victims to protect themselves.

    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.

    Related Video: Police in Port St. Lucie warn of ‘Grandparent Scam’

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 23, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , grandparent scam, ,   

    Scam victim gets money back in time for Christmas 

    By Greg Collier

    Due to the subject material we largely deal with at this blog, we don’t have many stories with happy endings. However, thanks to the season and law enforcement, we have a happy ending to bring you today just in time for the holiday weekend.

    Earlier this year, A Nebraska grandmother lost over $50,000 to the grandparent scam. For any new readers who might be joining us, the grandparent scam is where scammers target the elderly is a scam where the scammers pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren. In this case, the scammers told the grandmother that her grandson was involved in a car crash and needed the $50,000 for bail.

    The grandmother was instructed to send the supposed bail money in cash through the mail and a courier service like UPS or FedEx. As we have previously mentioned, no law enforcement agency or legitimate business will have you send cash through mail or overnight delivery.

    Apparently, one of the boxes of cash sent through the mail was sent to Massachusetts, as the grandmother recently received $25,000 back from the Boston Police Department. Thankfully, the payment was made by check. The family of the victim was also able to recover $4000 sent through the courier service. The remaining money has yet to be recovered.

    How is this a happy ending, you may ask? Most scam victims never get anything back. Too many elderly scam victims have lost everything due to scams. To recover over 50% of the money lost is a win in our book.

    This grandmother should also be thanked, as many victims of not just the grandparent scam are afraid to come forward due to embarrassment. That is their right, however, thanks to the victims that come forward, we can learn more about the scams and how to prevent them in the future.

    If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a relative, and they need money for bail or some other dire emergency, ask them a question only that person would know. Or you can also set up a code word with your family only to be used in emergencies. Lastly, call someone to verify the caller’s story. A scammer will tell you not to tell anyone else, but that’s a trick to keep anyone else in the victim’s family from finding out about the scam. Scammers will also try to keep you on the phone, so you can’t talk to anyone else in your family. Hang up and verify their story. No grandchild ever got extra jail time for their grandparents hanging up on them.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 22, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , grandparent scam, , , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Black Friday warning and more 

    Scam Round Up: Black Friday warning and more

    By Greg Collier

    This week in the Scam Round Up, we’re bringing you a reminder of an old scam, a new twist on a persistent scam, and a warning about this year’s holiday shopping season.

    ***

    The grandparent scam is still out there and shows no signs of slowing down. It’s becoming almost as common as the arrest warrant scam, which we’ll get to shortly.

    An elderly Florida woman recently lost $16,000 to the grandparent scam. A scammer called her, posing as one of her grandsons, and claimed he needed $50,000 for bail because of a car accident he was in. This scammer hit all the beats, saying he hit a pregnant woman with his car and not to tell anyone else in the family. The victim sent the scammers $16,000, which was all she had in savings. Her family found out when the victim started asking her friends how she could get more money.

    If you have an elderly relative, please let them know about this scam. If you receive a call like this, don’t say the grandchild’s name. This lets scammers know they have a potential victim on the phone. Ask the caller a question that only that person would know, to see if they are who they say they are.

    ***

    As we have said on multiple occasions, the arrest warrant scam is probably the most common scam in America. It’s at least the most reported one. Not a day goes by where we don’t see a report from some police department or sheriff’s office warning their residents of this scam.

    Typically, scammers call their victim posing as police while telling their victims they have an arrest warrant out for them. In most cases, the scammers will say the arrest warrant is for missing jury duty.

    More recently, residents of a Chicago suburb started receiving voice mails stating they had arrest warrants. They were then instructed to call a number that did not belong to their local police department.

    It’s unknown what happens when the fake police phone number is called, but all arrest warrant scams are designed to scare the victim into making some kind of payment that will make the warrant magically go away.

    No law enforcement office or agency will ever call you to demand a payment over the phone. If you receive one of these calls, hang up and call your local police at their non-emergency number.

    ***

    With Black Friday being this week, scammers will be out in droves trying to separate you from your money. This year, the Better Business Bureau is saying that the scammers will be more inclined to pose as a delivery company like UPS or FedEx than posing as a retailer like Amazon or Apple.

    This means scammers will be sending out texts and emails claiming you missed a delivery, or they need additional information to make the delivery. These messages will contain a link for you to click on. If you click on the link, you could be taken to a phony site that looks like the legitimate one from that delivery service. You’ll then be asked to input your personal information. Sometimes, you’ll be asked for your financial information for a redelivery fee, which isn’t a real thing. The phony website could also inject malware into your device, stealing even more information.

    As always, do not click on links in text messages and emails from people you don’t know personally. If you think there’s a problem with your delivery, go to the retailer’s website, and they’ll have the tracking information.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 7, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , grandparent scam,   

    Dangerous scam continues to target seniors 

    Dangerous scam continues to target seniors

    By Greg Collier

    If recent news reports are anything to go by, more and more scammers are resorting to the grandparent scam. It seems like every day, there is a news report from a police department or sheriff’s office warning their residents about this scam. Usually, after someone has already fallen victim to the scam. It’s becoming such a common occurrence that the scammers have almost perfected the scam and have any answer the victim might have about the scam.

    For example, an elderly woman from New Jersey was having trouble getting in touch with her grandson. Before she could get a hold of him, scammers called her, posing as her grandson. The phony grandson said he was in trouble and had a broken nose and split lip. Scammers will say their face is injured to explain why they don’t sound like the actual grandchild.

    The phony grandson told the woman that he was in jail because he was involved in a car accident with a woman who was eight-months pregnant. This is often told to victims to make the situation appear more serious and appeals to the victim’s emotions, hoping that the victim thinks less clearly.

    The woman offered to call the grandson’s father, but the scammer begged her not to, with the only explanation being “I’ll explain later”. Scammers do this to isolate the victim from contacting anyone else, which would potentially tip the victim off to this being a scam.

    The woman was instructed to call a phone number which was supposed to be a public defender’s office. This was just another part of the scam. She was told she needed to pay $8000 in cash to bail out her grandson. She offered to pay with a credit card, but was instructed it had to be cash. Grandparent scammers usually ask for cash, since there will be no paper trail once the money has been handed over.

    She was also told that these proceedings were under a gag order, and she could not tell anyone about them. Again, this is done to isolate the victim. Gag orders do not work in this way and are usually given to the participants of a trial.

    She went to her bank and got the $8000 and was told to put it in a shoebox full of magazines. We imagine this is done in an attempt to hide the money from police in case the scammer is pulled over, but any cop worth their salt would find the money fairly quickly.

    Then someone posing as a courier came to her house, claimed the box and drove off. Local police are now searching for the supposed courier.

    Two hours after this all happened, her actual grandson called her and told her he had not been in jail.

    One of the best ways to protect yourself from this scam is to ask the ‘grandchild’ only something they would know. When confronted with questions like this, scammers tend to hang up. You can also hang up from the phone call and try to call the person who has been supposedly arrested. No one ever got more jail time from being hung up on. Lastly, you can also call the police department that supposedly arrested them. They’ll be more than happy to assist you and will let you know if you’re being scammed.

     

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