Beware the ‘grandparents scam'

Several days ago we visited with friends of ours in a nearby community. They were very upset. Yesterday they received a phone call they assumed was from their grandson who lives with his parents in another state. They spoke to “their grandson” who told them he was being held in jail in Canada and he needed them to send more than $3,000 to bail him out. My husband and I already knew about the “grandparent scam” that has been in the news this past year but obviously they did not. At a recent AARP meeting this scam was brought to our attention by another grandparent who paid the $3,000. Our friends had the presence of mind to call their son and confirm that the grandson was in his class in school. The scary part of this is that the voice sounded just like their grandson and the caller knew his age, the name and phone number of the grandparents. The caller ID is blocked by “out of the area.” They did not pursue the payment arrangements so they have no possible way to track these callers. As I have stated, we are aware of the scam but how many others are not?? These grandparents are educated people and read the newspapers every day, watch the news on TV every day but missed the alert for this scam. I feel that this scam needs to broadcast as much as possible. If this scam can be published in your newspaper and others, possibly other grandparents will not be caught off guard and lose their money. Barbara and Joseph Rowan Milford, Pa.