North Greenbush Police grandparent scam warning

NORTH GREENBUSH, N.Y. (WNYT)- The “Grandparent” scam, befittingly named because it targets grandparents who receive a call from scammers posing as their grandchild, is very active in the North Greenbush community, according to police.

The high level of “Grandparent” scam activity prompted North Greenbush Police to post a warning on their Facebook page Friday. “We have received two reports of subjects showing up at residences in our town today to collect money from these,” it said in the post. “We suspect there may be more.”

The scam has certain telltale signs, according to police who caution people who receive such a call to not share personal or financial information.

“Call the actual grandchild to confirm that it wasn’t actually them,” North Greenbush Police say. “If you can’t reach them, call their parents to see where they are. If there is still doubt that it’s a scam, call our station and we can call the entity the scammer claimed to be from to verify that the story you were told is not true.”

Tactics used in “Grandparent” scams:

• A person posing as a grandchild says they were in an incident or accident and someone was either hurt or killed. The scammer will try to make the victim think their help is urgently needed.
• The scammer will beg the victim to not call the “grandchild’s” parent.
• The scammer will eventually pass the phone call to someone acting as a police officer, bondsman, lawyer or other official. The person will try to arrange a money transfer or location to pick up money.
• The scammer will tell the victim there is a gag order on them, prohibiting them from speaking with police, bank or others asking about the withdrawal of money.

“If an arrangement has already been made for the person to collect money in person, we would love to have the opportunity to meet with them instead of you so please call us to let us know,” police said.

To report a “Grandparent” scam call in North Greenbush call 518-283-5323 and speak with an officer.