There's nothing like getting a phone call from a family member in trouble. You're scared, your heart races, you don't know what to do.
And if you're not careful, you could lose a lot of money.
My Mom called me this morning and I immediately knew there was something wrong. She wanted to know if I'd heard from my son. Sure, he's at his home, working on a project. Why?
"He's not in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with a friend, at a funeral?"
That's when I knew. Mom had been called with the Granny Scam (or Grandparents Scam). But luckily, she called me... and she hadn't given out any financial information.
Someone posing as her grandson called, claiming he and his friends had flown to Connecticut for a funeral... and that there was drinking, a fight, a broken nose... and now he was in jail. And too ashamed to call his parents.
She said it didn't sound like him, but he was upset, broken nose, etc. And her first tip off should have been that he called her Grandma. Because my kids have NEVER called her that.
But she listened. And I'm not sure how that call ended, but the next call was supposedly his lawyer, with a case number, etc.
By that time, she had called me and she knew it was a scam.
But not every story ends that way. There have been lots of grandparents frightened into sending thousands to help their grandchild, when in fact their grandchild was home, safe and sound the whole time.
Makes me want to give someone a broken nose for real. But I wanted to share this, to let you know it's happening locally... and share some tips on avoiding this scam.
For one thing, don't use their name. Make them TELL YOU their name. Or their MIDDLE name. Anything that would let you know that it's really your grandchild or not.
I told Mom, next time, ask if the BABY is ok. Neither of my children HAVE a baby, so this would be a dead giveaway.
And ALWAYS check with other family members. ALWAYS.
Listen to this YouTube video. It's pretty much what happened to my Mom. Including the Bridgeport, Connecticut part....
(Photo: Getty Images)