Clerk, officer save woman from falling prey to scam

An alert Kroger clerk and a persistent Greencastle police chief helped a local woman save face and $2,000 after she appeared on the verge of falling victim to one of the most enduring scams around.

A local grandmother was about to kiss $2,000 goodbye recently as she waited at the Kroger customer service counter, trying to obtain a cashier's check. She intended to send that check off to extricate her grandson from trouble somewhere in Canada, Cancun or Cucamonga.

And without an inquisitive Kroger clerk on her side and GPD Police Chief Tom Sutherlin taking time to convince the local woman she was being duped, she most certainly would have fallen victim to the "Grandparent Scam."

The widespread hoax has reared its ugly head in the area again, preying upon older victims as callers pretend to be a family member -- usually a grandson -- in some kind of trouble far from home.

Luckily, the local grocery clerk was suspicious, Chief Sutherlin said. She not only knew about the scam but had the sense to contact GPD.

Chief Sutherlin still had to convince the woman the would-be distress call was not real.

"I told her, 'Ma'am, it's a scam,'" he related. "First of all it's not your grandson, and you're never going to see your $2,000 again."

The infamous swindle usually presents a scenario in which a family member has gotten hurt or been wrongly jailed while traveling abroad and desperately needs money to get himself out of the situation.

The scam usually targets senior citizens or grandparents, hence the name.

Quite often the scenario finds the phony grandson unable or unwilling to contact his parents for fear of a reprimand. The caller routinely begs the grandparent not to contact other relatives for fear of getting into trouble or worrying them, a tactic that helps isolate the victims into giving money.

"I don't understand how these people get the information they do about someone's grandchild, but they do," Chief Sutherlin told a small gathering at the First Ward neighborhood meeting at the Greencastle Fire Station last week.

He suggested the wise thing to do is always check with other family members. It should be easy enough to call the grandson or other victim directly to verify the situation.

The enduring scam, which has been traced to Canada, Jamaica and China, has targeted victims across the United States. In a California case, one victim paid $66,000 in a similar hoax, while in New Mexico, someone sent $120,000, authorities said.

The scam works because it tugs at the heartstrings of its older victims, Chief Sutherlin notes.

Investigators suspect the scammers have become more sophisticated in researching their targets, likely using social networking sites such as Facebook to learn about family members who are abroad.

Other times, scammers just cold-call targets and hope for the best. While many scammers often make it sound as if the money needs to be sent urgently, that should be a red flag. If someone actually is arrested or in the hospital, there should be no such rush to pay bills or post bond post haste.

Unfortunately, once the money is gone, it's gone for good. Victims rarely if ever get their money back.

Some simple things to remember should you get such a call include:

* Listen to the caller and take notes, including noting the person's caller ID.

* Verify your family member's location by using a valid phone number or speaking with other relatives.

* Contact the U.S. Embassy in the country involved to seek assistance or verification of an arrest or accident.

* Always report the scam or any call-related nefarious activity to local police.