BBB warns against a new scam involving Western Union and MoneyGram

In the USA customers of a senior age can face an emerging telephone scam that is preying on grandparents nationwide. The Better Business Bureau received reports about grandparents from California to New Hampshire that were involved in sending thousands of dollars to Canadian fraudsters under the mask of their grandchildren who allegedly needed money for an emergency situation.

The scam principle is as follows. The grandparent has a distressed phone call from who they believe is their grandchild. The fake ‘grandchildren’ usually explain that while traveling in Canada they were arrested or involved into an accident and hence they need money support from their grandparents so as to post bail or pay for damages - usually amounting to a few thousand dollars.

Many seniors reported the scam without being deceived. However many others became victims of unscrupulous violators.

BBB is giving grandparents some advices on how to protect themselves from the scam. First they should confirm the status of the individual by calling them directly or verifying the story with other family members before taking any further action. Second any request to wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram should be seen as a "red flag" and an immediate tip-off that the call may be part of a scam. Once funds are sent through the wire transfer service they are hard to track after being received and are usually not recoverable by law enforcement or banking officials.