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Massena troopers warning seniors of ongoing scam targeting local grandparents

Posted 5/16/16

MASSENA -- State police are warning residents of a “Grandparent Scam” following a recent report from a Massena resident. Troopers are currently investigating at least one case of such a scam and …

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Massena troopers warning seniors of ongoing scam targeting local grandparents

Posted

MASSENA -- State police are warning residents of a “Grandparent Scam” following a recent report from a Massena resident.

Troopers are currently investigating at least one case of such a scam and are reminding the public of this often used scam.

This common scam involves unknown individuals calling older or elderly people and then pretend to be a relative of the victim, usually a grandson or granddaughter. The caller starts out the call by stating "Grandma?" or "Grandpa?" which in turn usually elicits a response from the victim citing the name of a grandson or granddaughter.

The unknown caller then feeds from this info and pretends to be that relative while reporting that he or she has been involved in some sort of criminal issue or a motor vehicle accident and requests money be sent to help the situation in the form of bail money or repairs to a car.

The money is usually wired to the scammer outside the United States and the "grandchild" requests that the victims not contact his or her parents and report the situation so as to not be in trouble or avoid embarrassment. Incidents of this nature usually result in the victim losing thousands of dollars.

The most recent incident occurred in St. Lawrence County and involved an unknown individual posing as an elderly woman's grandson.

The individual claimed to have been arrested and in need of $2,000.00 bail money.

The elderly woman went to Rite Aid, and purchased four Visa pre-paid $500 debit cards. After purchasing the pre-paid debit cards, the elderly woman was re-contacted by the alleged grandson, who asked for the debit card numbers. She provided the card numbers over the phone and the cards were wiped clean.

The State Police suggests that anyone who receives such a call should ask questions that an imposter would not be able to answer correctly such as the date of their mother's birthday or the city they were born in, and call the family of the person who is allegedly seeking assistance to check on the legitimacy of the request. Any call believed to be a scam should also be reported to your local police immediately.