Grandparent scams are resurfacing again among scammers, targeting older adults by impersonating a grandchild, claiming they are in a crisis situation and need immediate financial assistance. Sometimes these calls would come across as spoof calls, where the caller ID appears to be from a known person, but now with artificial intelligence, those scammers are changing their voice to sound like the grandchild on the other side of the phone call, shares Strom Center Executive Director Carol McCrery:
“A grandmother was called at two o’clock in the morning. They are never going to call you when you are awake. They are going to call you when you are panicky when you hear the phone ring. It was a grandchild, so to speak, that needed help because he had been in error jailed and they needed to be bailed out. This grandmother had the wherewithal to know that it wasn’t accurate. However, now with social media, people can get on social media and find out everything about a person. What we have found out is these scammers are extremely savvy with social media so they can investigate anybody and find out everything about them”
When it comes to identifying a scammer, an immediate red flag is if they ask for payment in gift cards. Director McCrery also advises having key words only family members would know to help identify that person on the other end of the line.
