Quote:
Originally Posted by MMC24
This exact scam actually happened to a friend of ours this past summer in Connecticut. She got a call from someone in Canada. This person tried to pass herself off as her granddaughter asking for money to be wired to her. Thankfully, she knew her granddaughter was not visiting Canada and hung up on the caller. The strange part was the caller identified herself using her Granddaughter's correct first name. How on earth do these people fine out all this information?
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The real name thing does not surprise me. This scam is getting so much coverage. I saw an interview with an elderly gentleman on local television, explaining how this happened to him. I thought at the time that the wrong person watching could get an idea and either already know or find out a name pretty easily.
Whoever invented this one knows that grandparents are so often pushovers for their grandchildren (I know I am) that the scammers might have a good chance of pulling it off.
This has also been used in other ways. One that was reported was an employee supposedly stranded out of town, having had money and credit cards stolen. Sometimes these scammers have just enough information on actual situations to be able to put it all together to commit the crime.
Boomer