The $16,500 Grandparent Scam
The Perfect Scam
AARP
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2019
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In upstate New York, an older couple receives a startling call from an unknown voice. They are told their grandson has been in a car accident. The caller knows their grandson's name, where he lives and other details about his life. The caller shares alarming news that police suspect his grandson is at fault for the accident and are holding him in jail. If the grandparents want to help their grandson, they'll need to pay for a lawyer and send money immediately. Terrified, the grandparents agree to cover the legal fees to get their grandson out of jail. They follow the caller's instructions and send $5,400 in gift cards. Then the caller demands $10,000 cash. The grandparents don't yet realize that they are victims of the grandparent scam, a con targeting seniors by preying on their devotion to their families. In the U.S., grandparent scams are on the rise, with nearly $41 million in reported losses in 2018, up from $26 million in 2017. Before the ordeal is over, the couple will receive dozens of calls demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars and threatening their grandson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week on AARP's The Perfect Scam. |
| 0:03.4 | My dad is college educated, my mom is smart and has worked her whole life. |
| 0:08.2 | My initial reaction was a bit of anger, I have to say, that they were so vulnerable to this. |
| 0:17.7 | Welcome back to AARP's The Perfect Scam. |
| 0:20.0 | I'm your host Julie Gets and with me today as always Frank Abingale. |
| 0:23.5 | Frank it's great to see you. |
| 0:24.9 | Great to be here Julie, thank. |
| 0:26.9 | Frank today we're revisiting a scam that we've discussed before on this |
| 0:29.8 | podcast, the Grandparents scam. Now there's there's no doubt that Scams play on people's emotions in different ways. |
| 0:36.0 | And for this one in particular, most older adults with grown children have had years to worry about the what-ifs. |
| 0:42.0 | What if my daughter's car breaks down in the middle? children have had years to worry about the what ifs. |
| 0:43.0 | What if my daughter's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? |
| 0:46.0 | Or what if my son is robbed? |
| 0:48.0 | Or what if one of them suddenly has to go into a hospital? |
| 0:51.0 | So with this grandparents scam, the fraudsters prey directly on these |
| 0:55.4 | worries the parents and grandparents have had for much of their adult lives. Now |
| 0:59.9 | coupled with the fraudsters demands of needing to act immediately to send money or |
| 1:04.3 | something terrible will happen to your grandchild, it's just all so devious. |
| 1:08.8 | And unfortunately, it feels like this grandparents scam is one that we continue to hear more and more |
| 1:14.2 | about. It just won't go away. Why is that, Frank? Well you know there's no question |
| 1:18.8 | when I get asked by law enforcement or even when we go out and do state events for ARP and we get Q&A, people always bring up the |
| 1:26.0 | grandparent scam. |
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