# "Grandparent Scam" advisory **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710 "2011-06-16T17:06:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/1 "2011-06-16T17:06:18Z")
> **[San Diego Union-Tribune](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/)** > > San Diego, California and National News > [@linked article](#): > > The couple, whose names were not released, later learned they’d fallen prey to the “Grandparent Scam,” a widespread hoax in which callers pretend to be family members who have gotten into trouble while traveling abroad and need money to help get them out of the situation. What caught my eye was this comment: > [@linked article](#): > > 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. I hadn’t heard of this scam before. I guess I live under a rock. The linked article suggests ways to verify that the phone call was legit (or not). Some of the amounts lost to scammers are stunning. ($120k?!?) :eek: Those of you who are into social networking: always consider just what info to post about. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/2 "2011-06-16T17:54:14Z")
[Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596839&highlight=London+scam) on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/3 "2011-06-16T18:08:43Z")
Drat. My search parameters (“grandparent scam”) returned zero entries. The (minor) detail difference with the example you gave and the OP was that the scammers do more homework (the nephew in question was indeed in Mexico City) by pulling stuff off Facebook or whatever, and called by phone instead of email. But the warning about being scammed (and researching the “facts”) is the same. Thanks, **PoorYorick**! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/4 "2011-06-17T05:56:20Z")
So, where does this leave the idea “You can’t cheat an honest person”? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/5 "2011-06-17T12:55:43Z")
This isn’t about old homeless people showing up for a visit and claiming to be your grandparents by way of couple divorces ago? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/6 "2011-06-17T13:02:55Z")
If someone of the right age showed up at my doorstep and claimed to be my grandson, I would have a hard time disproving it quickly. But I doubt I would give him more than carfare home without checking. Yes, I sowed some wild oats in my own youth. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/7 "2011-06-17T13:52:31Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > So, where does this leave the idea “You can’t cheat an honest person”? Heh. Yeah, this one is pretty much directed at completely bypassing greed and going for fear. I actually got one of these emails years ago from a friend’s account. It had me going for a second because they got the location correct and the english was a lot better than in most scam emails. It “sounded” natural and everything. There were some incorrect details, but it was pretty good as far as scams go. I could easily see someone’s parents or grandparents falling for it. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/8 "2011-06-17T13:55:56Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > So, where does this leave the idea “You can’t cheat an honest person”? That chestnut is wrong. Honest people have gotten swindled for a long time, even before the interewebs existed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/9 "2011-06-17T21:37:58Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > So, where does this leave the idea “You can’t cheat an honest person”? I’d never heard that before. Whoever said it doesn’t have a clue. Honest people get cheated all the time. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/10 "2011-06-17T21:55:26Z")
The level of homework mentioned in the linked story (possibly pulling family names off of Facebook) is what caught my eye. It was more convincing than normal because of that little attention to detail in the phone calls. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/11 "2011-06-17T23:14:33Z")
Someone did this to one of my grandmothers last year. The scammers called her pretending to be me, and told her I needed some money because I’d broken my nose while traveling in London. And of course, she was told not to tell my parents. She sent them the money, and the only reason we know about it is that she mentioned the whole thing to my parents a few days later. > [@Derleth](#): > > So, where does this leave the idea “You can’t cheat an honest person”? Oh, that’s just some B.S. the dishonest people made up. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/12 "2011-06-17T23:25:52Z")
Didn’t your grandmother notice that “you” sounded…different? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/13 "2011-06-17T23:32:26Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’d never heard that before. > > Whoever said it doesn’t have a clue. Honest people get cheated all the time. Many scams rely on a mark’s greed to get the mark to overlook the fishy circumstances. People would never normally give their bank account numbers to a person in Africa out of compassion, but they will do it if they think they stand to make a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/14 "2011-06-17T23:35:28Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Many scams rely on a mark’s greed to get the mark to overlook the fishy circumstances. People would never normally give their bank account numbers to a person in Africa out of compassion, but they will do it if they think they stand to make a lot of money. I’m sure that’s right. But if you look up “dishonesty” in the dictionary or a thesaurus, i’m pretty sure that “greed” is not listed as a synonym. Also, the claim was that “You can’t cheat an honest person.” Even if some dishonest people are the victims of scams, it doesn’t validate the claim. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/15 "2011-06-17T23:36:56Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Didn’t your grandmother notice that “you” sounded…different? Can you tell we don’t speak very often? Or maybe she thought I sounded off because I’d broken my nose. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grandparent-scam-advisory/585710/16 "2011-06-18T05:46:52Z")
I had this happen to me. I had a friend who’s Yahoo and facebook accounts were hacked, and “she” said she was stranded in Madrid and needed money to get home. I, of course, am a greedy bastard and told her I’m not sending any money. It sounded legit, except for the fact that we weren’t that close and I’m not the kind of person who she’d normally turn to for money. Also, she has a personality similar to **Shot From Guns** , only with more profanity laced into her speech, and this person I’d been talking to was nothing but nice and polite. Then on a lark I texted her and asked if she was actually in Madrid. I got a tirade about me texting her in the middle of the night and “fuck no I’m not in Madrid!” I broke the news to her gently 😃