Warning of a scam in our area: Just got a FRAUD call attempting to get me to send money. The gal on the line said Hi, Grandma. (first clue, my kids dont call me Grandma), but I listened (could have been...). Then a story about a free trip with a friend to Cancun that included a car accident and jail because they had been drinking, and the friends attempt to get money but a bank lock-out because it was in a foreign country (all plausible, I suppose). Of course the upshot was asking for me to send her money. Being suspicious, I asked which granddaughter this was, she said What?, and I said yes what is your name? She hung up. There were other clues but... Of course if it had been one of my granddaughters they would have had a means for me to send them money because I have done that in the past, but the out of the country thing adds to the perceived difficulty. Then the frustration began: My web search only found How to report telephone fraud and referred to the FTC to report such calls. I tried to call the FTC... closed on Sat. I tried to call the Sheriffs Dept non-emergency line... closed on Sat. I looked for Sheriffs Dept web site... none (the County site doesnt even have a link for the Sheriff). Too bad because only a law enforcement agency can trace the phone number. [I assume a home call back trace would have found a blocked #.] Where is this Homeland Security bunch when they could be useful? If this were to happen again: I think I might play along and send them $5.00 just to have some record of a transaction. This appears to be only an attempted fraud and not actionable. I would worry about them getting any of my financial info so there would have to be caution and only through PayPal (?) or other secure source but it is unfortunate that all we can do is protect ourselves.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:43:29 +0000
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