Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey Issues Alert For Scam Targeting Seniors

puts scam victim physically at risk

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Recently, our agency became aware of another fraudulent scam that primarily targets seniors and is aimed at stealing money from them using an older scam but with a new twist.

While the “Grandmother” scam has been around for a while, this new twist not only targets the bank accounts of the victim but now puts them physically at risk as well.

The “Grandmother” scam starts with one of our seniors receiving a telephone call where the perpetrator pretends to be their grandson or granddaughter who has been arrested and needs bail money to be released.

At some point in the scam the grandchild impersonator will give the phone to a second perpetrator who pretends to be a Law Enforcement Officer or Lawyer who validates the arrest and need for bail money.

While the intended victim’s grandchild is not actually in jail and is safe and sound at home the perpetrators will instruct the intended victim on how to use a credit card to pay for bail or facilitate the release of the child.

In this new twist of the old scam if the intended victim says they do not have the ability to drive to obtain the required type of Green Dot Card or other type of required card, the perpetrators send a taxi cab to pick them up and take them to the store.

In a local case, a Brevard County resident who had fallen for the scam was driven to an Orlando Mall in a taxi cab that was summonsed by the perpetrator in order to obtain the required type of credit card. The victim, who is an elderly female was gone for hours from her home in Brevard County and was also responsible for the cab fare of $150.

In an effort to avoid this scam and others like it I would like to remind our citizens that the best way to avoid scams of this nature is to always allow an incoming call from an unknown caller to go to voicemail or answering machine.

The call can then be evaluated for legitimacy prior to ever speaking with anyone on the line.

Another great rule of thumb is that if you receive a telephone call, email, or knock on your door and the person asks you any question, disconnect the call or conversation as it is an unsolicited call and has the ability to be a scam.

I would also ask our citizens to talk with their elderly parents about the potential for victimization by scammers and how to avoid becoming a victim of Identity Theft, Credit Card Fraud, or Fraudulent Scams.

For more information on how to avoid becoming a victim, please visit our website at brevardsheriff.com or contact our Crime Prevention Unit at 321-264-7755.

– Sheriff Wayne Ivey

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