A grandparent in Roseville's Sun City adult community has been scammed by an all-to-familiar telephone ruse.
Roseville police said the Sun City resident received a telephone call June 28 from a male claiming to be his grandson. The caller said he had been in a traffic collision in Mexico, according to a police public safety log.
The fake grandson said he needed money for a lawyer. The grandfather wired the money, and, once more the next day, when the caller telephone again.
Not long after that, police said the grandparent spoke with his real grandson and it became clear he had been scammed.
Police have a series of tips on how not to fall for the grandparent scam:
• Be suspicious if the caller says they are out of state or in another country.
• Scammers often tell grandparents not to tell anyone, especially parents, about the problem.
• Often the scammers will have accomplices posing as police, lawyers or jailers call grandparents to bolster the phony story. Watch out for this.
• If a young relative claims to need money wired, get a call-back number and then call at their regular phone number - or call another relative to find out the truth.
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