An elderly Crothersville woman received a phone call last week asking for help which turned out to be a scam.
The local woman, who will remain unidentified to avoid embarrassment and possible future scams, said she received a phone call from a young man who claimed to be her grandson who had been in an automobile accident in Canada.
He asked his “grandmother” to send him money so he could get out of jail and asked her to not say anything to his parents.
She was asked for $2,800 but fortunately, made additional inquiries of the boy’s parents. He was not in an accident and not in Canada.
“Seniors should never send money based on a hard luck story without checking out the circumstances,” said Crothersville Senior Center Director Sue Walther. “A request for money from an grandchild in distant state or foreign county will nearly always be bogus.”
“Always check out the story with another family member,” she said. “Trouble is most older folk get very upset when something like this happens, they panic thinking their grandchild is in trouble and immediately send the money.”
“Don’t send any money,” said Walther. “Confirm a traveling grandchild with parents. And if the child isn’t traveling, immediately call police.”
