Cedars employees help foil scammers
Published 12:35 pm Thursday, March 1, 2012
Caller posed as resident’s grandson
Leaders at a local senior home got a first hand look at just how legitimate scams can sound.
Jerry Guyette, executive director of The Cedars of Austin, helped a resident after a man claiming to be her grandson called saying he was in a Canadian jail and needed money for bail.
A Cedars employee was in the resident’s room when the call came in around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday. The man called back when Guyette was in the room, and Guyette said he talked to the “grandson.”
“The guy said everything exactly right,” said Guyette, who noted the conversation was surprisingly convincing.
The “grandson” supposedly drove with a man who was arrested for having drugs in his vehicle. The “grandson” was arrested, too, even though he didn’t know about the drugs. He asked to receive money later that afternoon.
Guyette said he pressed the man and finally got a number of the jail.
“I was shocked when he gave me the number of where to call,” he said.
To his surprise, Guyette called the number and spoke with people saying they were a receptionist and jailer for a jail in Oakdale, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.
The story sounded legitimate until the resident’s son called back a few hours later. The son confirmed the calls were indeed a well-plotted scam, and he talked to the resident’s real grandson a few hours earlier.
Guyette, who noted it was his first encounter with such a scam, said it was a learning experience of how much information scammers can find on the Internet.
Police Chief Brian Krueger said scams like these happen at least once a week in Austin and residents should never give personal information or send money for something they aren’t sure is true.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true,” he said.
Guyette and his staff are giving residents information about scams and how to better prepare themselves and take precautions.
The key advice: Contact a family member if a similar call comes through.