"Grandparent Scam"

Today, was a very interesting day. I received a phone call from Kittry (Brandon's mom) this afternoon. She said, "Char! I just got a phone call from my mom and she said that "Brandon" called her this morning and said that he was in huge trouble". Brandon's grandma told Kittry that "Brandon" was in Cancun, Mexico and had been partying the night before, got into a car accident and was now sitting in jail! The man, crying on the phone, begged for $3,000 so he could bail himself out of jail. He repeatedly told Brandon's grandma, "Please do not tell my mom or dad, you know they will be so mad!".

So of course after Kittry is done telling me what her mom had told her, I'm thinking "Are we talking about my husband Brandon or is there a family member I'm not remembering with the same name?!?!". I was so insanely confused! Brandon doesn't even have a passport, and I had just talked to him 45 min prior while he was on his lunch break at work!!!

After a long conversation of assuring Brandon's grandma that he was NOT in a Mexican jail, she called one of her sons who is a police officer close to where she lives. (Brandon has three uncles who are all police officers close to where his grandma lives) They figured out that they were in fact victims of the "Grandparent Scam". Luckily the impostor hung up before his grandma gave him any bank information. The same exact thing had happened to another older couple in a neighboring town the week prior. Brandon's uncle said they traced the number that called the other older couple and it came up as a call from Africa, and it would probably be pointless to track the number who called Brandon's grandma.


I am so frustrated by this! Brandon's grandparents waited a few hours before telling Kittry about the phone call, and in those hours they sat praying and feeling sick to their stomachs that Brandon was sitting in prison. There is so much evil in the world it makes me sick.

PLEASE be aware of this. Alert you grandparents, elderly relatives and friends! This can all be avoided with a few personal questions and ALWAYS check with other family members to find the whereabouts of said grandchild. How sad to think of people living off of social security being ripped off because they are loving, caring, and generous!

This post may be a bit scattered and more than likely has many punctuation errors. It's late and I have a pregnant hormonal brain (which I'm pretty sure stays with you even after you give birth).