Don’t let this happen to you.

Seniors are amongst the most vulnerable when it comes to telephone scams. Particularly if the caller claims to be a grandchild in need. This scam is based on the premise that most grandparents would be willing to send money to a grandchild to get them out of a problem. Fraudsters have invented a variety of plausible sounding problems but they always ask for money and will often create a very persuasive argument that no-one else need know about it.

There are variations on the scam, but the premise is always the same. They always promise to pay their grandparent back and once they have received money will often call back wanting more.

Callers target older sounding people and experts in this type of crime believe that a large majority of the victims are too embarassed or even too ashamed to report it to the police.

In the past six months, Halton police have issued several warnings about the scam and recently said more than 50 seniors have lost money to phone scams, including fake grandsons.

Authorities also believe that organized crime may be involved in these types of fraud.

An article entitled “Hello Grandma” in the December 3rd issue of the Hamilton Spectator highlights this problem and tells the story of a grandmother who was duped out of several thousands of dollars by a person claiming to be her grandson.

She tells her story in the hope that the same thing won’t happen to you. To read the full story CLICK HERE