Fake Granddaughter Scam: Elderly Couple Loses Out On $10,000

Scams are stressful, costing people money they often cannot afford to lose. Often, they prey on the elderly and the caring. Usually, these scams are done with a comfortable distance between the scammer and the target.

Past scams occurred via phone or email; many still use that method. However, scams have invaded social media and are just as popular because you can easily reach many targets. No matter the method, they all mean the target never meets the scammers. However, from time to time, these scams bring you face to face with unknown danger.

A Distant Beginning

A woman shared a story of a scam that befell her grandparents, who she thought was too smart to fall for a fraud of this nature. For the sake of her story, we’ll call her June. While at work, she noticed she had missed eight calls from her father. When she called her father, he urgently told her to call her grandmother.

June’s grandmother needed to know she was okay and, even more importantly, that she was not locked in jail. She discovered what happened to make her grandparents believe she was incarcerated.

An Acting Performance

Tapping into familial love and fear, the scammers phoned her grandparents. Then, having someone pretend to be her, the woman said June was in jail and using her last phone call to reach them because she needed money to get out.

The woman pretending to be June performed, crying and begging the grandparents to help her. So the grandparents, desperate to help who they thought was their granddaughter, took 10k out of their bank. But, here’s where things turn chilling.

A Horrifying Close Encounter

After withdrawing the money, the scammers took it a step further. The grandparents live with June’s father and younger sister. The little sister answered a knock at the door. What greeted her were three men wearing masks! The scammers were there to collect the money.

Quickly slamming the door, the younger sister told her father about the three masked men at the door. Upon hearing this, he promptly phoned the police. Fortunately, nothing else happened, but the danger was terrifying.

Do Not Assume Your Family Is Safe

June shared this story to caution people not to assume their grandparents would never fall for a scam. Unfortunately, many are guilty of these assumptions, but scammers are getting craftier. Also, when it comes to supposed authority figures like police, we automatically believe what we are hearing is true without question.

When a person worries for a loved one, logic can go out the window, impairing their ability to think critically and even do something as simple as phoning a loved one to confirm. These scammers prey on human nature.

A Show of Support for the Grandparents

Someone offered support for the family’s experience. But they also asked June to “go easy” on their grandparents.

After all, it was more than a random person demanding money. Instead, they had someone on the phone pretending to be her. The terror and fear that a loved one is in such a terrifying position would make most people fall for such a call.

A Widespread Scam

Another reason June shared the tale was that she thought it could be more widespread, and she was right. Other people shared their own stories about this scam.

One person said it’s a more aggressive variation of the “Spanish prisoner scam.” Though June is in Japan, people replied about the same scam occurring in the U.S., Mexico, and Russia.

Finally, one clarified, “It was trendy five to ten years ago here in Russia; I think you couldn’t go a day without hearing or seeing a warning on TV or public radio or just a poster.”