Elderly Targeted In Recent Phone, Door-to-Door Scams

*Published at Patch.com September 10, 2011

When Dorothy and Dave White got a phone call from their grandson telling them that he had been arrested and needed $3,000 to make bail, they wanted to help. But the person who had called was certainly not their grandson.

The Whites, Lomita Village residents who are in their late seventies, were nearly taken in by a common phone scam. The question, “Do you know who this is?”  is usually the way the scammers get the names of relatives. In the White’s case, the voice at the other end of the line sounded just like their grandson Landis. ‘Landis’ told the them that he had been in an alcohol-related accident in British Columbia, and gave them an 800 number, which he claimed to be a lawyer who would arrange for his bail.

The ‘lawyer’ wanted $3,000 to bail their grandson out. When the White’s hesitated at the large amount, the number was dropped to $2,000, which they agreed to pay. They were given instructions regarding where and how to send the money. Luckily, just as they were going to wire the $2,000 at a Wal-Mart, a woman happened to ask them why. When the Whites repeated their story, they were told it was a common scam. A quick phone call to their grandson Landis confirmed that it wasn’t true.

Read more of this story at Mt. Helix Patch...