I haven’t had this particular scam, but I did have a guy try to convince me that a family member was in jail in the county my dad lived in. Dad was the only one, at the time, that I cared whether they were in jail or not. I told the guy to give me his number while I checked into whether it was my dad or not. What surprised me was that he gave it to me and didn’t have a problem with me checking. But he also couldn’t give me the name of the person that was wanting me to post bail. So after confirming with Dad that, no, he wasn’t in jail, I just didn’t bother giving the guy a call back. Never heard from him either.
You would have seen it coming.
I paid good money not to worry about offspring.
I, too, have ignored it. Nothing happens.
I have no grandkids, and I’m pretty much aware when the Ottlets are away from their usual haunts, but just in case we have a q&a specifically to accomplish the above.
I’m pretty sure I dodged a scam attempt a couple of days ago.
I’m on Bumble and I matched with “a lady” who listed art and design among her hobbies. Since I try to start conversations with something a bit more inspiring than “Hi”, I asked her to tell me more about that. She answered “Nope”. But she was willing to tell me about her work.
By that time, I had decided that she was either rather rude or that it was a scam attempt, but I decided to play along. She was based in Malaysia. Oh but wait, she had just moved to my country. And the same city too ! When I told her in which neighbourhood I lived, she answered that she also lived there. What a coincidence ! So I asked her how she liked it here. She made some ultra-generic comment about the weather.
Then, she gave me her WhatsApp number and asked for mine. I noted that hers had a Malaysian country code. I suggested we meet first and then, if there was a connection, we could exchange numbers. She unmatched me immediately.
Too bad. She was probably the love of my life and I blew it…
I had to stop using Tinder because 90% of the people I matched with and responded to me would have normal conversations for a day, and then when I proposed we meet somewhere for dinner they would then pull a “Well, I’m not too comfortable meeting at the moment. But I can give you my webcam address and we can discuss things there 
” and of course it’s somebody who actually lives in another state.
Well, I’ve had a few women ghosting me shortly after accepting an invitation to meet, but I didn’t not necessarily see these as scam attempts. I just assumed they had changed their minds and didn’t have the decency to tell me.
This one was obvious the moment she declined talking about her hobbies.
By the way are there any security risks involved in giving your What’sApp number to a stranger ? I tend not to be too concerned about it, except in this case.
The scam variation that was popular in Jakarta while we lived there was a call saying your child had been hurt at school, taken to the hospital, and in order for him to be treated cash had to be paid up front; a hospital staffer would kindly meet you at an ATM where they would take the cash and make sure treatment was started. Yeah, sure.
We had household staff who adored our son, and one day I came home to find them incredibly distraught. They had answered the phone, been given the story that my son had been hurt in a playground mishap, and were told to tell me the situation as soon as I got home. They couldn’t believe it when I laughed and assured them my son was fine - you could see they were deeply shocked and thought I was a heartless bitch.
I called his school to verify that he was fine, more to calm them down than because I was concerned myself.
Once or twice someone called with that scam story while I was home and answered the phone. You know they thought JACKPOT! when I answered, with an obviously foreign accent. My Indonesian was good enough that I would string them along, to their increasing frustration: “but wait, I don’t understand. Why do I have to meet you at the ATM? Can’t I just meet you at the hospital?” Or better yet, “oh, I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m too busy to worry about paying a hospital and dealing with treatment. Just tell his school to take him back, and I’ll pick him up at the end of the day as usual.” Good times.
We’ve been hit by this scam 3 times. The first time my wife took it and was in a panic that our “daughter” was in trouble until I clued her in. She had never heard of the scam before.
The second time a young male voice addressed me as Uncle. I actually have a young nephew, this sounded like him, and I was taken in for a moment until he started talking about needing money.
The third time they addressed me as “grandad” (we have no grandkids) and I responded “Is this Andrew?” and when they said yes, I started yelling that the cops had just been here looking for him, and they said the gas station guy might die, and where did you get a gun?!! They hung up.
My sister got taken in by this and sent a Western Union payment for $2,000. Then, AFTER doing that, called her daughter and asked her why the grandson was in (wherever). Then it was a mad scramble to try to stop the wire. WU said they couldn’t stop it, nor retrieve it, but they COULD send a request that whomever showed up to get it would have to show five pieces of identification. So the money was never taken by the scammer, but she was still out the $2K.
If this ever happens to me, my plan should I have the guts to implement it is a combination of these two. “Oh, David, is that you?” “Yes” “Funny, I don’t have a grandson called David”
I have a nephew that has been in and out of jail for domestic violence and drugs. If someone called claiming to be him, I’d say: “Enjoy your stay! Wouldn’t be the first time and probably not the last!”
I’m a firm believer in what my Dad told me when I asked him what he would do if I ever went to jail. “Don’t come home. You’re not my son!”
My mother got a call like that, claiming to be from her grandson, but she didn’t fall for it.
So… who got the money in the end? Western Union?
Has anyone seen the movie Compliance, inspired by the McDonald’s strip-search scams? I kept yelling at the characters, “Ask him if he means Becky Schumacher, or whatever her last name isn’t! Call your brother by the wrong name! Ask him the address of the house they’re supposedly searching!” But they were based on IRL people who apparently didn’t even know about search warrants. Or the impossibility of a remote search turning up admissible evidence.
(I have a similar reaction to Training Day. “Lady, you’re supposed to read a search warrant, and sign it. If you did, you’d find out that it’s an old electric bill before it’s too late!” And I cheer for the grandma in Falling Down. “She don’t got to tell you one word.” True – if she’s not under arrest, then she has no obligation to answer, and if she is under arrest, she can remain silent until she has an attorney. In theory, that is. In theory.)
Yeah, that’s what I was wondering too.
Beats me.
Plot twist: Western Union is behind 90% of all scams where they want you to pay via WU.
Semi-educated guess: It’ll be on WU’s books as money to be paid to whomever does eventually show matching ID, for a long time, until some escheatment rule kicks in.