Arden Arcade resident Joyce Green was the target of a suspected scam Thursday. According to Green, only an alert courtesy desk clerk at the Wal-Mart at El Camino and Watt avenues saved her from being bilked out of more than $2,000.
Here's Green's tale:
My phone rang this morning and a young male voice obviously upset, said, "Grandma, I'm in trouble." He said, "You won't be mad at me, will you?" I did reserve the right to be disappointed. It seems that he'd been out of town at a concert. Money, cash, cards etc were stolen. He and a friend needed money to get home. I asked a few questions but the situation needed to be resolved. He gave me an address and asked that I send him $2,000 in a money gram which could be purchased for cash +$50 at Wal-Mart. He would call me back in an hour for the confirmation number of the money gram.
Fortunately the young lady at the Wal-Mart courtesy desk was suspicious. She'd had a similar situation the week before in which the fellow could not spell the name of the person he was impersonating. When my call came in I told him that I could not send the money as there was a scam going on. When I asked for his cell phone number, he hung up! Later, I found that my grandson was at work. A friend at church experienced the same thing. I had never thought I was that gullible. Seniors beware!
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