SCAM !!!

Hi Everyone,

I just about had a heart attack because of a scam this morning.

I got a phone call. From my granddaughter Nevin. I could hardly understand her. She called back on the land line. I could still hardly hear her. She said she had a bad cold and a sinus attack and she was crying. She said that she was in jail in Mexico City. She said that the officials wanted to talk to me, but I had to give permission for them to call me. I gave permission.

They asked if I was James Bradley. I said yes. Do you have a granddaughter whose name is Nevin? I said yes. They said that she was in jail for drunk driving and involved in a collision involving injury. Did I want to talk to an attorney? Yes. They gave me an atty's name and asked if it was OK for him to call me. Yes. He will call after while he is in court right now.

15 minutes later I get a call from an attorney. He asked why he was supposed to call me...etc. etc. He said he got the record from the court and gave me the same details about drunk driving, in jail, collision, etc. It all boiled down to I had to come up with $7,450 plus $300.00 in Western Union expenses to get her out of jail. He explained that Mexico has a zero tolerance on alcohol level.

The $7,400 would get the procedure shunted so that she would not have a criminal record all of her life and get her out of jail and she cannot return to Mexico for five years.

They would not accept a credit card. The transaction had to be conducted in cash because if paper work was involved they would have to report it to the USA authorities and it would appear on her USA record for the rest of her life. I was to go to the bank and withdraw the cash. With that amount the bank would have to ask what It was for. I was to lie and tell them something about buying a new car or real estate or whatever. I could not tell the bank the truth because they would have to report it and Nevin would have a criminal record the rest of her life.

I was to take the money to Western Union and send it to the attorney. Western Union would also have to ask why I was transferring the money. Again I was to lie.

I called a hispanic lady that I know very well. She said that is a scam. Do Not Send Any Money. She had been scammed this way and so had her sister. My son Glenn told his other half and she said her mother and (I think) her sister had been scammed the same way.

Keep your money in the good ole USA and buy tools! It is a lot more fun.

I hope this saves some of you some money.
Beware. They sound very convincing and they have done this many times and they have all of the answers.

Glenn called his daughter, Nevin. She was about 10 miles from my home. She has not been to Mexico for over 5 years. I told her two things: 1) If you go to Mexico, I am going to kill you and 2) If that $7,45 + $300 had totaled $8,000, I would have told them, "Keep her."

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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If it's not Mexico...it's Nigeria or S. Africa. If my son or daughter got caught DUI in Mexico...they get what they deserve...well...maybe I'd drive down:p
 
Hey Jim, if you send me your banking info, such as your account numbers and any passwords, I'd be glad to make sure nothings amiss ;):p:rofl:

Seriously though...Glad you reinstalled your marbles and didn't fall prey to these scum-buckets...too many low-lifes out there trying for that fast buck on the backs of caring folks. Good info to spread around amongst friends & family! :thumb:
 
Last year my 88 year old MIL fell for this-- to the tune of 5k. It was her grandson with the cold, calling from Toronto, where he was in trouble for DUI. Same scam. We found out about it when she talked to the wife and asked how grandson made out. Money was wired from the local K or Walmart (can't remember which) to the Canadian counterpart. Police got no cooperation from the 'mart. You would think these transactions would be on tape and track-able. Apparently too small a crime to warrant the effort. Glad you didn't get suckered in
 
3 years ago........the scam worked on my mother and brother...the caller was supposedly my youngest son and needed $3,000. They wired the money to a Walmart in Calgary IIRC.

When the caller called back wanting more THEN they got suspicious.
 
Never heard of that one before. What kind of mind can come up with these despicable crimes :dunno:

This is my problem. I don't consider myself naive but, there are scams out there that I would never conceive of. It is people like me who would make an easy mark if not for a watchful eye and the tales and experiences of others. I have often heard people telling of odd occurrences. My reaction is usually to ask reasonable, logical questions about the details because I cannot figure out how someone could get into such a mess.

The victim's response is often something like "you had to be there". I must confess that I often silently doubt that if confronted with their situation, I would react as poorly . . . . :eek::eek::eek:

Let me tell you, when I got the news about my daughter's supposed situation, my engine went into overdrive and I walked right into it :eek: It was close. It wasn't until someone else asked "do you know for sure that your daughter is in Mexico?" that I a slowed down enough to get my bearings. As dad and I talked more, the story started to come apart but, let me tell you; the next time someone tells me "you had to be there", I will look them straight in the eye and say sincerely;

" I know what you mean"

:eek:
 
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Sorry to hear this Jim and Glenn. It may help to know the problem is rife in Canada too. Our local police estimate over $2 million has been stolen this way in a couple of months. Interesting stat is most suseptable were males over 40 tbru 50 . But a huge number of elderly too. All fits if you consider resources.
Between aware though that the scams are ingenius and dont only involve this scenario or Mexico Africa etc.
There is a lady here that was looking to rent a room to a student. Placed and advert on kijji. Had a response from a "foreign" student coming to study in Canada. Much email correspondence ensued during which over a period of time they became quiet pally. The girl telling the lady she would arrange for her father to send the deposit. Then girl sent email saying she was off to airport to pick up her ticket. Next thing a desperate phone call from the young girl creating a huge fuss about her father having misunderstood and sent all the money for deposit and plane ticket to the lady for rent and that now she could not get her ticket. She requested that since the money was already on route there was no way of stopping it and could the lady please urgently draw money and wire her the plane ticket money or she would miss her flight and enrolment in the school she was coming to. After much fuss pressure etc the lady sucumbed and you guys know the rest is history.
I cannot say enough about my ideas of what should happen to these people if they ever get caught. Apparently their are dozens of variations of these schemes preying on gentle caring folk.

To end on a more humorous light hearted note i am reminded of the scene in the movie Ruthless People a movie starring Danny deVito and Bette Midler. She is married to him and arranges her own kidnapping. Anyhow when the kidnappers call and demand a ransom he is in the process of cracking champaign and says" Keep her" I have often wondered what the scam artists would do if one said this to them. :) :)

sent from my Atrix
 
To end on a more humorous light hearted note i am reminded of the scene in the movie Ruthless People a movie starring Danny deVito and Bette Midler. She is married to him and arranges her own kidnapping. Anyhow when the kidnappers call and demand a ransom he is in the process of cracking champaign and says" Keep her" I have often wondered what the scam artists would do if one said this to them. :) :)

sent from my Atrix

:rofl::rofl::rofl:I'm a big believer in calling one's bluff :thumb::thumb:
 
Well done, Jim, for catching on before it was too late. And also well done on letting others here know about it. :thumb: There are a lot of real dirtbags out there.

This is a new scam to me, but it's a twist of an older one that's started with an e-mail telling a similar tale. (Often it's a friend traveling in a foreign country who's been robbed of money, credit cards, and passport. The DUI angle and phone call is new to me.)

The best advice I've seen for avoiding this type of scam is to try to get in touch with the person who's supposedly in trouble (or someone else close to them). That's what you and Glenn ultimately did, but had you done it sooner, you probably would have saved yourselves a few skipped heartbeats.
 
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