Senior Scams On the Rise – Victim Numbers Falling

While the number of senior scam calls are on the rise in Ocean County, the number of people actually falling for them is on the decline.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has worked tirelessly for years on spreading the message and it appears it's finally sticking for some residents. For others, there's still a lot to learn.

Sergeant Cindy Boyd says their task force continues to spread awareness through public conferences, the web site, public service announcements and even media stories. She explains "the number has definitely dropped off. Most of the calls I receive now are people reporting to me that they received a strange phone call. Every complaint is investigated."

This past weekend, a senior couple was swindled out of $19 hundred dollars after they received a call seemingly from their grandson, asking for bail money. They went to a Western Union and wired the money. It ended up in Canada. The incident is under investigation.

Boyd says "we will soon be working directly with Western Union to see if there's a way to stop these types of transfers before they actually go through. There are 124 sites in Ocean County to send money."

HOW DOES A SCAM WORK?

According to the Prosector's Office, traditionally operating as a telemarketing scam, fraudsters contact potential victims while posing as a family member or friend in urgent need of cash. Often the scenario involves an accident or arrest while traveling abroad, with a request that cash be sent through a money transfer company, such as Western Union or Money Gram.

There are commonly two methods used in an attempt to fulfill this scam.

1) In the typical scenario, a grandparent receives a phone call from con-artist claiming to be one of his or hers grandchildren. The caller goes on to say that they are in some kind of trouble, usually a car accident, returning from a foreign country, or even bail money and need money immediately.

A typical call can go something like this:

Con-artist: Hi, Grandma/Grandpa

Victim: Hi.

Con-artist: Do you know who this is?

Victim: John?

Con-artist: Yeah.

Victims don't verify the story until after the money has been sent as the caller specifically asks that they do not want other relatives to know what has happened by asking "Can you please help me? I'm in jail (or in the hospital / or in some type of financial need). But don't tell Dad. He would kill me if he found out, please sent the money ASAP. I'm scared"

Wanting to help their grandchild, the victim sends money by a money transfer company such as Money Gram or Western Union. Variations on the scam exist such as an old neighbor, a friend of the family etc. but predominantly the emergency scam is directed toward the Grandparents.

2) In a recent variation of this scam, compromised contact lists from hijacked e-mail accounts are used to send the potential victim an "urgent" e-mail request for money from a friend or relative with whom they have a correspondence. Common themes continue to be hospitalization or imprisonment while away from home. The friend is unaware that their account has been used to send out these requests to everyone on their contact list.

If you feel you've been victim of a scam or have received any calls, let Cindy Boyd at the Prosecutor's Office know. Call 732-929-2027 ext 3025.