A Whole New, Dangerous World.

AuthorRuchman, N. Stephen
Position[ON THE LEVEL]

* Last month, I received a call at my house. (Yes, my wife and I still maintain our house phone.) When I answered the phone, the person on the other end said, "Grandpa, this is John." (I've changed his name for his privacy.) "John?" I responded. "It doesn't sound like you." My grandson, John, is a senior in high school and he is very active. My wife and I have enjoyed driving our grandchildren to soccer games and other activities for their entire lives and I consider us very close. He told me he was in the hospital and he had broken his nose.

As any grandparent knows, a call like this is upsetting, to say the least. But, there was more: Through his almost indistinguishable and broken voice, he said he had been out with friends who were drinking and they had gotten into a car accident. The police, he said, were at the hospital now and he was going to be arraigned. "Please don't tell mom and dad," he said. "I need money for bail."

Now, I was suspicious. "John, this is John?" I questioned and was affirmed. "Tell me your middle name," I persisted. The person on the other end of the phone hung up.

Turns out, the whole incident was a scam. I don't know where the caller got my phone number and grandchild's name. It could be my grandchildren's school database was hacked and the scammer obtained my number on the "In case of emergency" list. We may never know. I can say my family now has a code word. If anyone, parent, grandparent or child is approached and told they are representing a family member, we will now ask for the code word before sharing information, money or putting ourselves in a situation like a car ride that could turn out to be dangerous.

Since I've shared this story, I've learned it is not uncommon. Many people have told me they have a friend or family member who was taken for a ride (so to speak) by this con. I consider it particularly loathsome because it preys on the elderly, who often are vulnerable, as well as a sacred relationship between a grandparent and grandchild.

I share this story for a few reasons: First, of course, is to alert anyone who may not have heard about this specific scam. How deplorable do you have to be to swindle a grandparent? These people have no scruples! In addition, I urge families to adopt our code-word--as-security tactic.

There are other lessons from this cautionary tale. For example, even school districts need cyberliability protection. If it turns out the school has, indeed, been hacked and the...

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