"Grandparents scam" - friend just texted me his in-laws just got one of these calls.

[underpants]

They figured it wasn't real BUT the caller had the kid's name and what sounded like a young girl got on the phone.

It goes like this:
Elder grandparent is called (they are more likely to be at home)
Usually it's grand daughters
Accident in NYC or Chicago and the kid has a broken nose (so they sound slightly different). For grandsons, they got a DUI or busted for pot.
Need money immediately
Grandparents are so freaked out they sometimes fall for it. Education level doesn't matter - lawyers and doctors have fallen for it.


This story is from 2014. It includes a guy who got busted doing it.
He said 1 in 50 fall for it and they can make as much as $10k a day.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grandparent-scam-explained-by-former-scammer-what-you-need-to-know/

[shraby]

1. I got 2 of them. Both times I asked what their name was and both times they

were absolutely wrong. LOL

[Phentex]

2. My sister got a text from a former classmate

whom oddly enough she had unfriended on facebook for all the trump stuff. The text said she needed money right away for a surgery. My sister knew it was fake but played along for a bit. Then when she got tired of it, she cornered them with some fake information and blasted them. Still, they either had the friend's phone or had spoofed the number. But like your story says, someone probably does fall for it!

[dansolo]

3. My stepson's grandfather fell for one of these scams

He got a call from someone claiming to be my stepson saying that they needed to bailed out of jail. The really bizarre thing was that they convinced him to buy thousands of dollars of gift cards. Unfortunately, he didn't bother calling anyone else in the family to confirm if it was true. This happened this past year.

[dembotoz]

4. Grandma got this call..

Want 5 grand for a grandson in trouble in England...

Saving grace was she didn't have 5k

Family running joke until my mom died was if the kid would be home from work on time or was he still in England

[underpants]

5. Telephone ransom

Years ago I was at an insurance conference and we got a briefing from former CIA types. Executive overseas gets their cell phone stolen and the wife or company are called demanding a small sum THAT DAY to release the Exec. This was early in the cell phone era. Often the guy would return to where they were staying with their wife that afternoon and she is in full stress/breakdown. He says someone stole my cell phone or I lost it somewhere today. The money was already transferred.

[theaocp]

6. I was allegedly arrested for dope in Mexico

and my grandmother got the call. Glad she didn't fall for it. Scumbags.

[kimbutgar]

7. My mother in law got one of those calls

She has 9 grandchildren. And the person calling did not give their name and kept calling her Grandma. She hung up after awhile but she played along to see what they wanted.