Phone Scam Targeting Seniors Surfaces Locally

I recieved a phone call on my cell today (Sept. 19) saying, "Hello Grandpa, how are you? I am not too fine. I am in Seattle, wandered on a Indian reservation, got thrown in jail, going before a judge in 2 hours, got a lawyer and can I use you as a reference? I need to borrow $900 and the lawyer will call you in a little while about arrangeing the money, I will pay you back when I can."

I said, "Who is this?" and the man replied, "Your grandson, Michael."

"You only get one phone call, right?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Well, you're surely in trouble as I don't have a grandson named Michael!"

Then, he hung up.

The only reason I am posting this is because after putting something on Facebook about it, several Pacifica people said they knew of local people it happened to who had lost money.

Editor's Note: The Internal Revenue Service warned in early August that seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area were falling prey to a phone scam, but it had to do with a fake tax credit for which the scammers were convincing the elderly they were elidgible. This is something else, it seems.

Have you received a call?

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