'Grandparents scam' foiled twice in GV

www.gvnews.com

A Green Valley woman foiled a “grandparent scam” by questioning the scammer about the names of her two cats, according to a Sheriff’s report.

The woman told Pima County Sheriff’s deputies that around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, a man who claimed to be her grandson called her residence. He said he was in trouble and needed her to wire several thousand dollars up to Canada.

But when she asked him to prove his identity by telling her the names of her two cats, he balked and hung up the phone, according to the report.

Last week, a man phoned another Green Valley woman with a similar story. He said he was stuck in Vancouver and needed money immediately. But when the woman told him that he didn’t have the same voice as her grandson, he hung up, a report said.

The scam is a common one, and often turns up in Green Valley where grandparents live apart from grandchildren and are easily duped. In several cases this year, residents have wired money only to discover later it was a scam.

The Sheriff’s Department recommends reporting suspicious calls from potential scammers to authorities.