'Grandparent Scam' Reaches Rockridge

Berkeley police warned residents to be on guard against con artists working a sophisticated, social media-aided version of the “Grandparent Scam” after two elderly people living in the Berkeley Hills received calls Monday from a man claiming to be an officer with a Bay Area police department.

By today, Thursday, April 25, at least one Rockrige resident had also been targeted in the scam, with a caller posing as an injured grandson who said his voice might sound different because his nose had been broken.

According to the FBI, perpetrators of the scam call elderly people late at night or early in the morning and pose as grandchildren in trouble, or as law enforcement officials who have arrested a grandchild. In both variations, the scammers ask the victim to wire money. Sometimes the thieves use personal details gleaned from social media sites to make their fabrications more credible.

The FBI offers this example: The actual grandson may mention on his social networking site that he’s a photographer who often travels to Mexico. When contacting the grandparents, the phony grandson will say he’s calling from Mexico, where someone stole his camera equipment and passport.

 How to avoid being conned, according to the FBI:

• Resist the pressure to act quickly.
• Try to contact your grandchild or another family member to determine whether or not the call is legitimate.
• Never wire money based on a request made over the phone or in an e-mail...especially overseas. Wiring money is like giving cash—once you send it, you can’t get it back.

What to do if you have fallen prey to the “Grandparent Scheme." 

 “The financial losses in these cases—while they can be substantial for an individual, usually several thousand dollars per victim—typically don’t meet the FBI’s financial thresholds for opening an investigation. We recommend contacting your local authorities or state consumer protection agency if you think you’ve been victimized. We also suggest you file a complaint with [the Internet Crime Complaint Center], which not only forwards complaints to the appropriate agencies, but also collates and analyzes the data—looking for common threads that link complaints and help identify the culprits.”