I heard a security expert on the radio mention about a scam and she suggested that everyone have a family word that only the family knows so everyone would know if they were being scammed or if a family member was in trouble.
My DMom passed away in early April. The day we planned her funeral, I told my DDad that we needed to come up with a family word in case someone tries to perpetrate the scam on us.
The day after her obituary was posted on the funeral home's website, someone called my DDad, purporting to be my nephew, saying that he was in an accident, near his college. He'd hit a pregnant woman after he'd been drinking and he had an open container in his car. He was arrested... please don't tell his mom... she will kill him. He was driving a friend's car. He said that his attorney would call soon. When the "attorney" called, he didn't have a local number to the "accident", but a Florida area code. He told DDad that he was from a national law firm and the phone system must have picked up a Florida number. He asked DDad if he'd be the financially responsible party and DDad told him he didn't know. DDad told him that what concerned him was that his grandson hadn't given him the family word. The "attorney" immediately hung up. DDad called me in a panic, wondering if he did the right thing.
We now really have a family word. I suggest you create one that is known only by your immediate family to help your family members to not fall for this scam.
At this point, a second person tried to scam him with another scam, pretending to be a bank. DDad is no longer "allowed" to answer calls from numbers he doesn't know. I told him that any legitimate person that he knows will leave a message. He is happy to do this so this doesn't happen again.
Some people are awful, especially when someone is dealing with the death of a spouse.
My DMom passed away in early April. The day we planned her funeral, I told my DDad that we needed to come up with a family word in case someone tries to perpetrate the scam on us.
The day after her obituary was posted on the funeral home's website, someone called my DDad, purporting to be my nephew, saying that he was in an accident, near his college. He'd hit a pregnant woman after he'd been drinking and he had an open container in his car. He was arrested... please don't tell his mom... she will kill him. He was driving a friend's car. He said that his attorney would call soon. When the "attorney" called, he didn't have a local number to the "accident", but a Florida area code. He told DDad that he was from a national law firm and the phone system must have picked up a Florida number. He asked DDad if he'd be the financially responsible party and DDad told him he didn't know. DDad told him that what concerned him was that his grandson hadn't given him the family word. The "attorney" immediately hung up. DDad called me in a panic, wondering if he did the right thing.
We now really have a family word. I suggest you create one that is known only by your immediate family to help your family members to not fall for this scam.
At this point, a second person tried to scam him with another scam, pretending to be a bank. DDad is no longer "allowed" to answer calls from numbers he doesn't know. I told him that any legitimate person that he knows will leave a message. He is happy to do this so this doesn't happen again.
Some people are awful, especially when someone is dealing with the death of a spouse.