I work at a financial and a lady got a call from this number. Claimed to be her son's friend and he needed $2,900.00 western union sent to him because he was in some trouble. This is a scam. do not send any money
You are very right!! This was in todays paper! PLEASE NOTE THE #'S AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE. You can also report these calls to the FCC at FCC.gov
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Scams through e-mails, phone calls cause concern
Grandma sent money to wrong number
Posted: July 22, 2010 - 12:08am
By JUSTINE GRIFFIN
A St. Augustine grandmother didn't think twice about wiring money to someone she thought was her grandson, claiming to be in trouble.
"I got this call from a young man who called me Nana, just like my grandson Zack does," she said. "He told me he was in Madrid and got into a car accident."
The grandmother, who will not be named, thought it was strange that this was the first time she was hearing about her 24-year-old grandson from Massachusetts taking a trip to Spain.
"He told me that he wasn't allowed to leave the country until he had $2,000 to pay for damages in the accident," she said. "I only have $2,000 in my savings, so I told him I could only send $1,000."
After haggling for more money, the man on the other line of the phone gave her instructions to send $1,200 to Spain through Western Union.
"I know I wasn't thinking," she said. "But I just wanted to make sure he was OK. That's all that mattered to me."
The grandmother realized something wasn't adding up the next day when a so-called police officer called about her grandson being taken to jail and needing more money to bail him out.
"All of this just didn't sound right," she said. "I sat up all night waiting for Zack to call me. The officer said he would call me back."
The grandmother then decided to call her grandson's home in Massachusetts, where she found out he wasn't in Spain at all.
This woman is just one of many across St. Johns County who were victims of a scam, said Sgt. Chuck Mulligan, spokesman with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
"We see this every day," he said, "victims of scams through phone calls, mail and e-mails."
Many scammers try to trick people into believing they are family members, pastors or other good Samaritans who need help.
Mulligan said that even though the scams happen frequently, it's difficult to find out who to charge for the crimes.
"A lot of these scams are based in different states and even different countries," he said. "So even if we knew where they were originating from, it would be very difficult to convict someone."
The grandmother was surprised that the people who called her knew so much personal information about her family.
"These strangers knew my grandson's name and that he called me Nana," she said.
Her grandson believes that their information was easily obtained through social media sites like Facebook, she said.
"I'm embarrassed that I was stupid enough for falling for that, and now I'm paying the price," she said. "But at least my grandson is just fine."
The phone numbers that came up on the grandmother's caller ID were (123) 456-7891 and (416) 238-0000
I also wanted to let everyone know that, somewhere, this could be a valid # BUT professional scammers can make whatever # they want, display on a caller ID to hide their real #. BUT the FCC can track these calls to their point of origin. So report them, they are scaming whoever they can. An old lady really believed it was her grandson calling. So before you go wiring money, call around and verify the whereabouts of whoever is asking for "help".
Just got a call from this number. Did not answer since it was from a strange phone number and they did not leave message. Judging from this post would not even bother calling them back