Antonio is a proud father.
He has every reason to be. After all, his son is pretty savvy and does well under pressure.
That claim is something he can back up after his son responded to a crisis with calmness when a scammer tried to pull the old grandparent scam.
Antonio’s son was visiting his nonna, one of several monthly visits the teen makes for a senior who has failing eyesight and hearing. One day, the phone rang while his son was there for a visit, but he was in the other room making some food for lunch.
The boy tries to not listen to nonna’s phone calls when he’s there and so he didn’t notice that she was sounding distressed. He then heard nonna hang up the phone.
“When my son came into the room with the food, he could tell she was upset and confused,” Antonio said. “She kept asking, ‘are you in trouble?’”
It turns out a scammer called and said her grandson had been arrested and put in jail. The caller gave out some personal details and asked if she was willing to “bail” him out of jail “before something bad happened to him.”
The caller then said he would be phoning back in an hour to give some details on how to send the money to get him out of jail.
“My son tried calling me but I was in a meeting and his mother was out of town,” Antonio said. “And so he waited until the phone rang again and he gave the scammer his comeuppance. That person won’t be calling again.”
The grandson also spent time with nonna going over what happened to help her understand how the scam works.
“I’m really proud of him.”
Emergency scams are about a family member or friend in a dire situation. You get a call, email, or social media message from someone claiming to be a family member in distress. They may say they’ve been arrested while traveling overseas, or there was an accident, medical emergency, or other calamity. They provide convincing details, such as family names, school details, etc.
Tips to Spot This Scam:
Resist the urge to act immediately, no matter how dramatic the story sounds. Check out the story with other family and friends, but hang up or close the message and call your loved one directly. Don’t call the phone number provided by the caller or caller ID. Ask questions that would be hard for an impostor to answer correctly.
Know what your family members are sharing online. You may not have control over your family's social media accounts, but familiarize yourself with what they are sharing online.
Don't wire any money if there is any doubt about the call. If a person does wire money and later realizes it is a fraud, the police need to be alerted.
Establish a unique password or phrase to verify family members. If a loved one is travelling overseas, make a plan to use a unique phrase to help confirm their identity. This will reduce the risk of grandparents being scammed by a fake plea for help.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
