We all have those family members that we would do anything for. Then we have those family members who we’d help if they were in trouble because they are family. However, we don’t really talk to them that often. Unfortunately, there are scammers out there who will take advantage of that fact.
There is a popular scam out there were someone pretends to be a distant family member of another person. They usually like to pretend to be the grandchild of a person because they know grandparents will do just about anything to help their grandchildren. The scammer will pretend to be the grandchild, or another family member, and say that they have been arrested in some far off place.
The scammer will ask for two things, bail money and secrecy. They will say something along the lines of: “I don’t want anyone else in the family to know about this.” They will ask that several thousands of dollars be wired to them. They do this because the money will not be able to be reclaimed, and they do not want their victim to talk to anyone else about the problem.
To counteract this, it is important that you always check in with the people who know the person who claims to be calling you. Talk to the person’s parents or friends, someone who would know where that relative is. You may learn that he or she is safe in their room, not in some random jail. Just by doing this simple thing, you can save yourself thousands of dollars.
Whenever you get a call from a random number, and the person on the other end is asking for any amount of money, proceed with caution. Think about how often, if at all, your family members would do something like this.