Scam Alert

A variation of the so-called grandma scam is targeting some LW residents, according to anecdotal reports, one of them from Tiny Schaffer, LW’s resident computer expert and vocalist at GRF dances. One of her clients recounted the following story about her neighbor: “My neighbor’s mom is 83, and she just got a call notifying her that her son was in the hospital, and instructing her to take $10,000 to the hospital immediately. The woman had her neighbor drive her to the bank, pull the cash and head to the hospital where she was met by a man, who accepted the cash. Needless to say, her son was never in the hospital.

His stomach is twisted in knots from this, which happened three days ago.”

Scammers know that parents and grandparents have a hard time saying no and will go to great lengths to keep their loved ones safe.

Scammers can create stories to prey on the fears of relatives. Scammers call and impersonate a grandchild—or another close relative—in a crisis situation, asking for immediate financial assistance. Sometimes these callers “spoof ” the caller ID to make an incoming call appear to be coming from a trusted source.

Often the imposter claims to have been in an accident or arrested. The scammer may ask the grandparent “please don’t let mom and dad know,” and may hand the phone over to someone posing as a lawyer seeking immediate payment.

Unfortunately, bad actors can now use artificial intelligence technology “to mimic voices, convincing people, often the elderly, that their loved ones are in distress,” according to a recent Washington Post article. The article reports that scammers can replicate a voice from just a short audio sample, then use AI tools to hold a conversation in that voice, which “speaks” whatever the imposter types. Several variations of the grandparent scam have surfaced over the years. A U.S. Postal Inspection Service webpage about grandparent scams (see https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/ grandparent-scams) includes videos of victims sharing their stories to help raise awareness of this criminal tactic.