The Iowa Department of Public Safety and Attorney General Brenna Bird are warning Iowans to be aware of a new wave of “grandparent scams.”
Several communities statewide have recently reported efforts by criminal groups to swindle predominately older Iowans. A press release states that the AG’s Office has been warning Iowans about the grandparent scam since at least 2008. The scam consists of con artists calling a victim, posing as a grandchild, and claiming they have been in an accident, hospitalized, jailed, or are in a foreign country. They then ask the grandparent to send money to help them.
Scammers may go as far as to send an alleged courier to the grandparent’s home to retrieve money. Scammers will often trick the victim by using details about their grandchild that were obtained from social media accounts. The scammer might also team up with another scammer who pretends to be someone backing up the scammer’s claims such as an attorney, doctor, or police officer. Grandparent scam transactions generally transfer funds abroad, and are often nearly impossible to trace.
Iowans suspicious of a grandparent scam should immediately contact local law enforcement for assistance and report the scam to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.
