[Dana1963]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

A postal employee was caught stealing outgoing mail at one of The Villages postal stations. Quite a lot, apparently. So it's possible.

It was a CONTRACTING EMPLOYEE not a Postal Employee. The thief in question was an employee of the Contracting Company to the USPS, owned and operated by the thief's mother!
Postal Employees go through a back ground, drug screening and financial back ground checks.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by Dana1963

It was a CONTRACTING EMPLOYEE not a Postal Employee. The thief in question was an employee of the Contracting Company to the USPS, owned and operated by the thief's mother!
Postal Employees go through a back ground, drug screening and financial back ground checks.

Thanx for the clarification.

[UpNorth]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The sad thing is that people refuse to believe this actually happens. It is one of the OLDEST phone scams against seniors, and it's pretty successful.

I was hit with the "grandma is that you?" scam a couple of years ago. I swore at the guy and hung up. How did I know it wasn't legit? Because I don't have any children - and therefore no grandchildren.

This is a HUGE scam. If you've never heard of it, then you could some day become a victim of it. Be grateful you're learning about it now.

Had a couple of the "Hi Grandpa" scam calls in the past. Played along, calling the scammer "Bobby" and acted like I was really concerned. Wasted a good 15 minutes of his time while I was being entertained. Almost got to the point where he was going to transfer me over to his "lawyer" that needed the funds. That's when I had enough and let him know that my grandson "Bobby" really didn't exist. Hope he felt like a fool at that point. But yes, this is a tragic scam to be playing on old people who can be easily misled.

[MDLNB]

Why didn't you just make it an even $15K? And, just out of curiosity what did you spend it on...........

[tvbound]

Sadly, this is but just one type of scam on the elderly (or easily deceived) that has been happening forever and will continue to happen for one simple reason - it works. While I just KNOW it couldn't ever happen to me, I've taken precautions anyway. I've chosen to have a third party, non-relative, to help oversee my financial actions (anything over $5K) once I turn 80. There are lots of ways to set up firewalls using actions and/or persons who are not financially invested in my money and I think everyone should look at doing the same. No matter how smart we think we are, or immune to emotional naivete/or loss of cognitive abilities as we age, under the right circumstances - it can happen to any of us.

[DAVES]

Forgive me but, this particular scam is so OLD everyone has had it pulled on them.
The TALE sounds a bit fishy. An 87 year old lady is competent enough to get to the bank, fill out the forms and has over 14,000 sitting as CASH just does not seem to make sense.

If, 14,000 is the real number wow, they must have heard I am cheap. Mine was only ???? 3-400.

I've won so many FREE TRIPS, FREE DEPLOMAS, I hope the IRS does not try to tax me on the NO VALUE of this STUFF.

The do not call list? I think I am now on the guys a nut, it is a waste of time to call him list.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Sadly, this is but just one type of scam on the elderly (or easily deceived) that has been happening forever and will continue to happen for one simple reason - it works. While I just KNOW it couldn't ever happen to me, I've taken precautions anyway. I've chosen to have a third party, non-relative, to help oversee my financial actions (anything over $5K) once I turn 80. There are lots of ways to set up firewalls using actions and/or persons who are not financially invested in my money and I think everyone should look at doing the same. No matter how smart we think we are, or immune to emotional naivete/or loss of cognitive abilities as we age, under the right circumstances - it can happen to any of us.

I too said it can never happen to me. I fell for one. The Website said US GOVERNMENT XXXXXXX. Before you start they ask you for your credit card. ?????
Was I tired or ?????????? I assumed it was to cover postage. In any case you see a video which has NO VALUE. Then are instructed you need to go to some given address to complete it. They charged me like $100 on my card for something that I already had and it is like $59.00. You do not get a phone number till the end .
I called them and it is a typical boiler room. We will have ?????? call you back tomorrow. Of course they never called. I called them back and they offered to refund half my money. I refused and called my credit card company. I sent my credit card company the full file. I had printed everything I expect few people do. I got a full refund.

[thevillages2013]

Originally Posted by TheVillageBlacksmith

I am posting this to raise awareness.

My friend is an 87 year old woman living alone who received a phone call from a man claiming that I was in trouble because I was in an accident because I was texting while driving and I hit a parked car with a pregnant woman in the vehicle. He claimed that I told him that she was my grandmother and asked for the spelling of my name to ensure that she was authorized to receive information about the case. She believed that I was in trouble and did not want to dispute the claim that I am indeed not her grandson, thinking that it would get me in more trouble. He then promised to give her updates on the situation and indeed called her back later that day. He told her that I was in huge trouble because the pregnant lady suffered broken bones and that she must send $14,700 in order to help me. He even had another person come on the phone impersonating me, claiming that he would pay back the money if she helped and could not talk more due to a broken nose and headache from the accident. At this point, he instructed her on how to send the money to help me and to not tell anyone because I would only get in more trouble. The next morning she went to her bank and sent the money as instructed.
A few days after this happened I called my friend to ask if she needed anything, we were both horrified and sickened to learn what happened to her.
Neither of us has any idea how someone could connect the two of us as we have no online or social media connections.
Anyway, the bank, local Law Enforcement can't do anything, for some reason the detective that took the statement found it appropriate to vent to my friend about his problems!!! and turns out because the amount is over 10K it's a federal matter and when you make a claim with the FBI online, they do not even acknowledge receipt of your claim with an email stating that it was received! I found that out when I called the local FBI field office (a week after the claim was filed) and they were able to confirm that the claim was received. Good to know, still no follow-up from them. Sadly they must be overwhelemed...

Does anyone know of other resources or organizations that can help with this matter?

How did she “send” the money?

[Eg_cruz]

We just had a client scammed out of $10,000 thank goodness the daughter and Wells Fargo caught it and they were able to stop the wire transferred. He is in his 80s

[Petersweeney]

This whole thread is a scam…..somehow I just spent 10 minutes and got nothing new to learn…

[Heytubes]

Usually banks stop people from withdrawals of large sums of money by in depth questioning. Happened to me even when I had a legitimate withdrawal.

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Couldn't they call that FBI International team on the TV show?

[ffresh]

Originally Posted by Petersweeney

This whole thread is a scam…..somehow I just spent 10 minutes and got nothing new to learn…

Maybe this will help (but I doubt it )

Recent email attempt to scam me (the scammer had evidently hacked the email of an old friend ... I guess:

Sent: 1/20/2022 1:53:51 PM
Subject: Favor - to - ask........Patti

Sorry to bother you, do you order from Amazon?
Patti

Was your email hacked (see below)?
P.S. Happy New Year
Fred

Not a hack.
Patti

OK .................................................. ....... then, yes, I do???
Now I'm more confused 🥴
Fred

Subject: Re: Re[2]: Favor - to - ask........Patti

I need to get Amazon gift card for my niece. It’s her birthday today. I tried purchasing them myself but my card got declined. Could you get them on Amazon and have them sent to her email address? Let me know so I can provide you with her email address.
Patti


Here's where I start playing along


Sure, be happy to ... call me at the phone# you have for me 🤣 Are you still located in ... I forget; where is your home town?
Fred


My phone service is so spotty out here especially in the PM. Here is my niece's email address RHBELLIVEAU1@YAHOO.COM Happy birthday from Patti. Total amount needed $250. Let me know when it's done. So I’ll let her know it’s from me.
Patti


OK ... give me a little time and I'll take care of it. Did you say $150 to BHBELLIVEAU1@YAHOO>COM? I'll give you my address later to reimburse me, OK?
Fred


$250!
Patti


Oh, sorry, OK $250 to BELLIVEAU1@YAHOO>COM ... got it!
Fred


RHBELLIVEAU1@YAHOO.COM AND NOT BELLIVEAU1@YAHOO>COM.
Patti


Hey ROGER
[person]
Roger H Belliveau, Age 79 - Lives in Acton, MA, (978) 369-6164
Profile for Roger H Belliveau, 79 years old, currently living in Acton, MA with the phone number (978) 369-6164. More details available.

I wish I had more time to play along but, even at the age of 73, I am a busy man. So, I think I'll just turn this email thread over to Seniors Vs Crime in The Villages (svcinthevillages.org) tomorrow and see if they might want to pursue it. They're usually pretty tenacious in protecting us seniors form online scams
Fred

Since then, it's been "crickets" from Roger

I was going to call Seniors vs Crime but I noticed the office is temp closed ... sounds like more trouble than it's worth

Sorry if this is/will be considered hijacking a thread
Fred

[danglanzsr]

There was never any connection made between the grandmother and grandson. When the call was made it was the grandmother who gave the caller the information necessary to continue the scam. That is, she probably said "John, is that you?" The poster also said the caller asked granny to spell the name of the alleged grandson. The actual grandson was never actually involved in the scam. Granny provided all the necessary information.

[MidWestIA]

From medicare counselor scam group - The way they set you up to be vulnerable is to get you emotional, scared, rushed, excited or if they tell you DON"T TELL ANYONE

and any something happened to your account or family and you need to give them any info to access anything or any kind of money

If you feel rushed, threatened or emotional in any interaction with anybody get away from them and call your bank or who they say they are AFTER you do a search to get a phone number