Scam Warnings: Are You Safe From Your Own Family?
These scam warnings are called the “grandparent scam”, and are becoming more common and more dangerous to the elderly.
In 2009 American grandparents admitted to being duped out of $4.5 million dollars.
This is according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Canada, (because they are English speaking), is the scammer's favorite locale. Here’s how this works…
- Scam warnings show the thief usually uses this particular bait, as it works so well.
- A person will call that claims to be your grandchild and says he has been hospitalized or arrested while visiting Canada. Of course the grandchild pleads that he is scared to call his parents and needs to have a wire transfer for quick cash.
- Because many grandparents are not only hard of hearing, often ask is this you Charlie, thus giving the scammer the identity of the grandchild which, of course, helps the scammer to follow through with this viscous scam.
- Many times the scammer knows the name of the grandchild and will use it to identify himself and knows personal family information that in turn helps to convince the grandparent they are actually talking to the grandchild. As a result, in many cases, they wire a large amount of money.
- Other times, if the scammer is questioned about his funny voice the scammer will state he is sick and has a bad cold.
For more knowledge on scam warnings and scam alerts, go to identity theft scams to learn more.
Identity theft crooks are very creative. He could know personal acquaintances; you can get most any type of personal information online from the obituaries.
The Internet is a gold mine of information from genealogy sites; they provide “public” family trees, social networking sites and online information businesses that post family member's names and ages.
- It turns out that these victims had the common thread of having a recent death in the family, and that is where much of the personal information was listed.
It is a well known fact that most victims will never report this fraud, as it is too embarrassing to have to admit that they did not recognize the voice of their grandchild.
- One trick to play on a caller is he says he is your grandchild; ask the scammer, which one? The scammer will normally hang up.
- Tell the caller you will return the call at his cell phone or home. Make sure you don’t say or volunteer the information. This action will confirm the identity of your grandchild. If you aren’t sure of the numbers, ask a family member for them.
- Never provide ANY personal information such as credit card or bank numbers, and be very wary of anyone that asks you for money wires.
Scam warnings and scam alerts are becoming very common on TV, radio, Internet and many other sources. Unfortunately, I believe much of this has escalated because of the state of the economy.
SCAM WARNINGS: Unbelievable; Your Home Is Stolen!
An acquaintance of mine, I’ll call her Ruth, hired contractors to make some minor renovations and was astonished to learn another crew was already there and most of her beautiful home had already been gutted.
HER HOUSE HAD BEEN STOLEN AND SHE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT!
Here is how these identity theft scams work;
- The contractors Ruth called asked if she had hired these other people, and she said no.
- The “new” owners had “sold” her property for $5,000 and hired the unexpected workmen.
- Unbeknownst to Ruth, the deed was transferred to the “new” owner's name, and the person actually had proof Ruth had ‘sold’ it.
- Her signature had been forged and Ruth spent more than one year and over $20,000 and a lot of headaches to get her home back.
House stealing is easy, and a very fast-growing scam. Vacant houses are the easiest and most preferable for a scammer; but, once a house becomes a target, occupied residences are also vulnerable.
The con finds these properties by searching the public records to find out who owns the property.
- A crook can go to the City Hall to the deed recorder's office and use their own computers to research the information, they need. Once the crook has the information, they can purchase $10 property transfer forms at any office supply store.
- The Crook then forges the signature and files the paperwork with the county or city recorder’s office.
- Sadly, in many states, those who oversee property closings and deed recordings are not required to authenticate the identities of sellers or buyers.
- Many identity theft scammers easily create fake IDs and steal the real homeowner’s identity.
Many times these newly issued deeds for the stolen homes are sold for only a fraction of what they are worth.
The scammer’s favorite victim is the one that pays cash for the title and also becomes scammed.
More often than not, the scammer uses the stolen home as collateral to get new loans.
- New loans are more likely to be issued to homeowners with no existing mortgage.
- The ones most often a target for these identity theft scams are the elderly as, most often, their house has long since been paid off.
- Many times this scam takes only a couple of hours to complete.
Scam Warnings and Scam Alerts Tips:
How do you protect yourself from this type of scam?
- Every now and then take the time to check all property records with your registrar's office or your local deed recorder, to ensure all signatures and documents are legitimate.
- If at any time you receive information or a payment book with loan information that is not yours, whether the envelope has your name on it or not, keep it, open it and follow it up with the company that sent it to you.
- Many deed-recording offices alert homeowners whenever a transfer is made on their property with the use of the software they use. If your company does not use this software, be sure and ask why they don’t.
- Immediately report to your district attorney or state attorney general’s offices if you find you are a victim of your home being stolen.
In my state, Fox40 news just reported another scam on Craigs List; another rental home scam.
An unsuspecting victim will rent a home from a person for a “very” reasonable monthly rent and deposit, only to later find out that the person they rented the home from does NOT really own the home, and of course, can’t legally rent the home to anyone. RENTER BEWARE!
Scam warnings should be taken seriously; if you become a victim of one, you are in danger of losing everything you have worked so hard for.
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