'Grandparent scam' alive and well in the area

They?re at it again.

Brenda Sayre, planning director of the Southeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging, Inc., said the ?grandparent scam? phone call is operating in the area. She said an elderly woman in Burlington received such a call Monday.

What is the ?grandparent scam??

The scam goes like this: An elderly person receives a phone call from a clever and convincing con artist. The scammer poses as a woman/man?s grandchild, claiming to have an emergency and needing money immediately to either get out of trouble or come home.

Sometimes, they claim thy have been in an accident and can?t call their parents because the parents would be angry. So instead, they call the grandparent to help out.

How do the scammers get a grandchild?s name? They often don?t have to because at the beginning of the phone call, they will say, ?Hi grandma,? to which the grandma says, ?Hi Paul.? Now they have the grandchild?s name.

For victims who fall for the scam and wire money, there is no way to track the scammers. Wire transfer firms only ask for identification when the scam artist picks up the money order.

The scam artist will convince the victim that they can?t get to the wire transfer location and money must be sent to someone else to pick up the money. Consequently, the caller uses some other identity.

The grandparent scam is not new and can be costly. Earlier this year, a central Iowa woman lost $6,800 in a similar scam and the money will never be recovered.