my grandpa almost got scammed

[Atlas]

i was in the car and my dad was talking to my grandpa over the car phone so i could hear it and my poor grandpa almost got scammed but it was kind of scary like listen to this


he said that he got a phone call last night

and the guy on the other line spoke softly

he was like 'grandpa i need your help'

and my grandpa was like 'who is this?'

and the other guy was like 'it's your nephew scott'
(which is so bizarre cuz how'd he know???! like scott is a legit nephew)

anyways, cont. 'i was in an accident. i crashed my car and my nose got smashed. the police said they could smell alcohol on me, and im in prison and i need you to bail me out. i didnt want my mom to know about it so thats why i called you'

and my grandpa knew it was a scam i guess but he decided to play along i guess? he was like 'where are you?' like what jail is he in i guess, cuz i suppose you get one phone call or st

and the guy was like 'i dont really know but i need your help'

and then he said he'd have his lawyer call him?? lololol that never happened

but what scares me is how on earth did that scammer get a hold of my grandpa, know about my cousin, and like.. try to scam him??? that's pretty evil and messed up and scary..

i'm a bit unsettled by it all but my grandpa said he called my aunt and they shared a laugh about it.. and they laughed about getting scam phone calls from the internal revenue service and etc..

what do you think? have you heard of this happen before?
luckily this has never happened in my house (as i know of)

but isnt that pretty messed up?!!?!?

[Maki]

Wow, I'm really really glad your grandpa's still sharp in the mind cause I can see that kinda scam working :/ Glad you're all able to have a laugh about it, but GEEZ that is scary

[Maison]

OMG BRANDON SORRY TO ALMOST HEAR THIS!! Your grandpa sounds so smart though! Glad he didn't fall for it :/...
And maybe it was like a close family friend who needed money?!?IDK!! That's so scary how people find these things out!! Now I am scared it's okay though!!!

[Pusheen]

That sucks and is so scary indeed how some people can have so much info

But when you think about it, you can find everything in facebook and social networks if you're not careful enough, and honestly, most of the time normal people trust the internet too much and don't upgrade their facebook privacy. Maybe they took the name out of there

[Accelerator]

My family has received those calls like 3 or more times now, 1 of them while I was living at my dad's house.
Whoever picked up the phone just played along for a while and then told them "GTFO SoB" or stuff like that, it's funny (cause I don't go out that much )
I'd like to be the one who picks up the phone when they're trying to impersonate me e___e
Glad your grandpa didn't fall for that (:

[Cath]

The samething happened to my grandparents a few years ago. Sadly, they were sure it was my brother calling and actually transferred like 1 thousand $ to a complete stranger... People should be ashamed to target elders to be honest. I mean, whoever is targeted, it's still wrong, but it makes me feel so sad. Elders are so naive and kind-hearted.

[Misha]

Same crap happened to me after being arrested for beating my brother up. Someone called them and said I was wanted on federal charges and was facing 25 years if she didn't pay. My mom said "fuck that" and called me immediately after. Bill collectors are ruthless as fuck now

[5252]

From my knowledge his data was probably sold to the scammers. I've heard that scam so many times. You want to make sure your family is aware NEVER to accept checks from strangers, moneygram or western union money.

[xohsosuper]

I've heard of this exact thing happening before (to the T in details). They target the elderly, the "grandparents", and it almost always is successful. How i wish we could find and punish these cruel people. We all love our grandparents too much to let this happen.

And like others have mentioned, it stems from having info online. I'm sorry this happened to your grandfather. I'd be so pissed if someone pulled this on a family member of mine. Best advice is to always inform the unsuspecting people of scams like this so they wont fall victim :/

[5252]

Oh and sad thing to is, when they get ahold of the "kids number" and spoof it, so it looks even more legit...