Police: 'Grandkids' in trouble may actually be scammers

For one local grandmother, a phone call from someone claiming to be her grandson turned out to be anything but."I think people ought to be warned about this scam," said Bettye Mahan, 82, one of many who have been the target of the phone call. "He said 'hello' and I said 'hello.' And I asked, 'Who is this?' He said, 'This is your grandson.'"She said she called him by name at that point and asked how he and other family members were doing. When she noticed he didn't sound like her relative, he claimed to have a cold."Then he said he was in Ontario, Calif., and I knew it wasn't him," she said. "He said, 'Grandma, I'm in trouble.'"Mahan said she told him she was busy and had to go, hanging up the phone."I wonder how many people fall for this?" she asked. "They target grandmas and grandpas."Gail Kipp, 81, said her sister resides in Illinois and received a call from the "hi grandma" scammers, so she was alerted to their tactics."I never thought I would get one of these calls but one day I got a call and he said, 'Hi grandma,'" she said. "I knew right then it was them because my grandkids don't call me grandma. So I tried to get as much information as I could from him."Kipp said she started taking notes and asking questions."He was a very nice-sounding young man," she said. "He had no accents and used good English and good grammar. I enjoyed talking to him."She said it's a believable scam because every grandparent has at least one grandchild who gets in trouble."He said he needed money and said he wanted me to send money to him (through) Western Union," she said. "Finally he said, 'You old bitty, you've just been leading me on.' Then he slammed the receiver down on the phone."She said she believes the problem is more prevalent than most people know."It always starts out, 'hi grandma,' so ask questions about which grandkid it is and (about) other relatives. I can't believe it's out there (so much). If I hadn't heard from my sister, I don't know how long it would have taken for me to figure it out," Kipp said. "Three people I know have gotten these calls."According to Sgt. Jason Browning, spokesman for the Folsom Police Department, phone scams are nothing new."The police frequently receive calls from people who have either been scammed, or suspect they were targeted," Browning said.According to Browning, common scams include, "Your family member was arrested in some far away place and needs bail money; you won some foreign lottery and need to meet the courier at the airport with the taxes to receive your reward (and) unheard of charities or groups who need your help including narcotics officers, children's homes, etc."He said people should rely on their common sense."People who receive scammer's calls need to remember that if it appears suspicious, it probably is," he said. "The suspects in this crime are very difficult to track. They operate using vague information and slick conversation to convince people they are legitimate. If you ever have any doubt whether or not you are being scammed, then you probably are."He said elderly people are ripe pickings for swindlers. "These scammers target the elderly because our older population is less likely to vet the callers' honesty by using resources on the Internet," he said.