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Conference moira::parenting

Title:	Parenting
Notice:	Previous PARENTING version at MOIRA::PARENTING_V3
Moderator:	GEMEVN::FAIMANY

Created:	Thu Apr 09 1992
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1292
Total number of notes:	34837

1119.0. "Scam artist targetting the elderly?" by SUBPAC::OLDIGES () Thu Apr 04 1996 17:46

                                                                 
    My father was the target of a scam operation a few days ago.  To make a
    long story short, a person claiming to be ME called my father on Sunday
    evening (long distance - collect).  This person gave my dad a line
    about losing his (i.e. MY) job and I had to move to Pontiac Illinois
    within a month.  I needed $200 in money orders sent to a post office
    box in Illinois to hold me over for a few weeks.  After talking with
    this person for a short time, it became obvious to my dad and
    brother-in-law, who happened to be visiting my dad at the time, what
    was going on so they told this scam artist to take a hike.
    
    My dad called up the phone company right away and they told him that he
    could get the collect charges dropped from his phone bill.  As for the
    scam, they told him to get in touch with the better business bureau. 
    My dad talked to the BBB and they said there wasn't anything they could
    do (my dad lives in Kentucky), but he should call the attorney general
    of Kentucky.  So, my dad calls the AG and they tell him there is
    nothing they can do, but he should call up the post office and tell
    them about it.  So my dad goes to the main post office in Northern
    Kentucky and tells them about it.  They tell him there is nothing they
    can do about but they tell him to call up some other phone number they
    gave him.  He got so frustrated with the whole thing that he just
    decided to forget the whole thing.
    
    Fortunately my dad was not suckered in by this person.  I really wonder
    where or how this person got my dad's name and phone number.  Maybe
    from AARP lists?  My guess is that he was targeted because of his age
    (73) and many elderly people are easy targets for scams (at least this
    is my impression).
    
    I wanted to write a note in here for 2 reasons:
    
    1) A suggestion to others who might have parents on in years to give your
    mother or father a call and warn them against being taken by scam
    artists.
    
    2) Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to help find
    this scammer or stop this kind of thing from happening again?
    
    Thanks for your help,
    
    Phil

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1119.1		CSC32::M_EVANS	It's the foodchain, stupid	`Thu Apr 04 1996 18:01`	8
	Since this was a collect call, the phone company should have the number that it came from. Chances are this was a phone booth, but you never can tell, some scam artists are not real bright. I don't know about the laws in Kentucky, but here we have one on robbing from the elderly, and it is possible the state the call came from has the same sort of laws. meg
1119.2		TLE::C_STOCKS	Cheryl Stocks	`Thu Apr 04 1996 18:12`	8
	Pontiac, Illinois, eh? That's where the state penitentiary is (maximum security prison). And, to relate this to parenting, I visited that prison with my father when I was junoir high age (dad was on the prison pardon and parole board) - what a depressing place! cheryl
1119.3	Call the local police	AKOCOA::NELSON		`Thu Apr 04 1996 18:20`	4
	Have your dad contact he local police department and/or the local newspaper. Sadly, these kinds of scam operations seem to happen every spring. Must be the warm weather bringing all the creeps out of the woodwork.
1119.4	PUblicity	HOTLNE::CORMIER		`Fri Apr 05 1996 12:41`	7
	Might be nice to send a letter to the editors of the AARP magazine, warning others about the scam. Publicity does a heck of a lot more than reporting to an official agency. I would think that the phone company would care quite a bit, since it's using their equipment for the possible commission of a crime, and if they are gracious enough to remove the collect charges they could be losing $$$!
1119.5	a family password might be preventative...	MROA::DCAMPBELL		`Fri Apr 05 1996 13:38`	5
	For the future, if you're nervous, set up a password with your parents. We've done this for other reasons. It may be a good way to separate the scams from the real emergencies. Diana
1119.6		DANGER::ARRIGHI		`Fri Apr 05 1996 16:38`	8
	Why not call up the postmaster in Pontiac Illinois and report it? When people rent a PO box they have to show proof of address when filling out the registration card, and this goes on the card. This is a federal matter that the Post Office SHOULD be concerned about, but you probably will not get much concern from the average clerk at the counter. Tony
1119.7	phone	STRATA::BARROWS		`Sat Apr 06 1996 12:35`	15
	The phone companies will not have the # the call was made from. Especially if it was a collect call. If the phone companies had all that info. , people would never prank call, etc... In order to have a call traced, you have to call the phone company, and the police station must also be involved. The phone company has to call the police and advise them that they are installing a tracer on the telephone line. You have to request this. The only #'s that the phone company can provide you with, is what's on your phone bill. Collect calls(atleast on my bill) show up as my phone#, and any #'s I call from my phone. $.02 KT
1119.8		CONSLT::CHRISTIE		`Mon Apr 08 1996 11:13`	11
	Did this guy know your first name? I'd be interested in how he got that info. For future use isn't there a service through the phone company that tells you the number that called you? I thought it was called caller id or something. The reason I ask if he knew your name is because that would be rather hard to get other than thru a personal knowledge of the family. Barbara
1119.9		DECWIN::MCCARTNEY		`Mon Apr 08 1996 11:24`	9
	re: .8 "The reason I ask if he knew your name is because that would be rather hard to get other than thru a personal knowledge of the family." or the phone book, or by buying a mailing list... Irene
1119.10	Name changes	ALFA2::PEASLEE		`Mon Apr 08 1996 12:39`	5
	Re: .9 Actually if there was a name change through marriage, then it would be difficult to derive the familial relationship through the phone book or via a mailing list. Nancy
1119.11		CONSLT::CHRISTIE		`Mon Apr 08 1996 14:02`	9
	I was wondering how someone would get the children's first names actually. That's not info you'd get from a phone book. I wouldn't think this would work to well unless they knew at least a little of the family's history. But who knows, I bet they can be pretty clever at extracting info from unsuspecting elders. Barbara
1119.12	voice	MAIL1::LOCOVARE		`Tue Apr 09 1996 10:48`	3
	Wouldn't your parent know your voice?
1119.13		CSC32::M_EVANS	It's the foodchain, stupid	`Tue Apr 09 1996 11:47`	8
	Older parents can be quite deaf, at least mine is, and she has crossed me up with one of her friends on more than one occaision. I hate to say this, but with older parents, sometimes it might not be a bad idea to have a "password," just as I have for my daughter if someone she doesn't know is to pick her up in an emergency.
1119.14		SUBPAC::OLDIGES		`Tue Apr 09 1996 11:48`	46
	Thanks for the input. Re: .2 Very interesting that you mentioned that there is a prison in Pontiac Ilinois. Perhaps the call was made from inside the slammer from a person with too much time on his hands? Re: .7 You could be right about the number not showing up on the phone bill but my father got the impression from the phone company that his bill would indicate a collect call was made. Whether the number from which the call was made will be on the bill is yet to be seen. A quick call to NYNEX indicated that the number will appear on the bill (sooner or later), even though it might take up to 2 months for it to appear. I would guess that it would be similar with Cincinnati Bell. Re. .8 This person did not know my first name and I am not even sure he knew my family name. He simply acted as if he were me. The operator said that there was a collect call from "your son" and my dad took it. When the person started talking, the person was mumbling at which point my dad said something like "Is that you, Phil?", feeding him enough information to continue the scam. It is still a mystery where this person got my dad's phone number, or if it was simply a lucky guess. I found out the following since I posted .0 Since this fellow did not use the mail to scam, the postal service has no jurisdiction. They can only deal with mail fraud and the like. The FBI wouldn't get involved because the total amount for the scam is too little (only a few hundred dollars). According to the FBI, the Attorney General of each State would be the one to contact, but as my father has seen, the AG in Kentucky doesn't seem too interested. In the meantime, I found an organization that is interested. It is the National Fraud Information Line at (800)876-7060. They claim to distribute information on these types of scams to the correct organizations who can then follow up on it. Phil