I'm feeling sick - scammers called me(LONG)

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My adrenaline is pumping and I'm feeling very stressed and sick from a call I just received. It showed on my call display as Private Caller and when I answered the phone the person on the other end said Hi Gramma, well since I have no grandkids yet I told the caller they had the wrong number. Then they quickly changed to "Oh, sorry, Aunt Lori". I said yes, hello? And they said "do you know who this is?" I answered no so they said "Who's your favourite nephew?" Since I had no idea who I was talking to I guessed a name half laughing since I was pretty sure it wasn't that nephew. They said "Yes, I'm in trouble, I need help Aunt Lori." What kind of trouble? "I've been arrested on a DUI (Driving under the influence or while intoxicated - not sure of the correct wording for the acronym) and I need $2100. The judge is going to let me go without any black marks but I need to pay the guy who's rental car I hit for the damages first. Then because I was co-operative and clear/coherent I will get my licence back and be released and it will be like it never happened!" He was crying at this point and I could not be sure of the voice at all. He insisted I not tell anyone, he was embarrassed and would tell his Mom when he had dealt with it all. Please please don't tell anyone! Can I call your cell and confirm its you I asked, "No, they have my phone and all my stuff, I can't get that back until I'm released." OK I said what can I do to help. I'll get the lawyer to call you he says, in 5 minutes. So I get a call from someone claiming to be a lawyer. The money total is really $2435.00 and I will need to send it by Western Union to Montreal (other side of the country) no street address just a name. He talked really fast. I asked him, what is your office number? He answered "why?" I said I need to confirm its not a scam. He said well, I have no staff in the office they are out on Christmas vacation. OK I said what about a website? We are Steinberg and Co out of Vancouver he told me. So I did a search and could find no website confirming the existence of such al lawyers office, plus my nephew lives in Kelowna not Vancouver so what would a Vancouver lawyer be doing representing someone in Kelowna. Also as far as I know (haven't been arrested personally but...) you will not see a judge the morning after you are arrested and also they will charge you and release you most often not hold you unless you are belligerent or something. Anyway, I've got alarm bells going off all over the place because I can't confirm this is legit so I call the local RCMP detachment and they say I'm pretty sure you are dealing with a scam here. Nothing adds up to the real world, if you are taken into custody on a DUI they will not sweep it under the rug for you if you pay for damages (RCMP take DUI pretty darn seriously here). But I said, "I hate to leave my nephew hung out to dry if it really was him" even tho it really doesn't add up too well for me at all. The officer I spoke to suggested I call the Kelowna RCMP and see if I could confirm any of the facts I had been told about a crash or dui arrest. So I did that and of course the officer at that detachment assured me it was a scam for sure altho she could not give me much information due to privacy issues. So they are supposed to be calling again in about 20 minutes and I have decided that I can not send any money to unknown names at unknown addresses when I can't confirm a darn thing and my gut is telling me its a scam. Why then do I feel so upset about abandoning my nephew (who should da** well not be driving after drinking anyway) when I don't even believe it IS my nephew. Crap, I hate these people! If I weren't so cynical I would have taken them at their word and sent the $. I wonder how many people will fall for their line.

Thanks for letting me vent, I feel better having put it down.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

It's so scary with all the things people can do now days. I'm so glad you didnt fall for it. I've heard of this scam before.

Just to give yourself piece of mind, you should call your nephew or his parents just to verify it is indeed a scam.

 

[JAX]

Do not send a dime. If its really your nephew then a call to his parents is the right thing to do anyway.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

It's so scary with all the things people can do now days. I'm so glad you didnt fall for it. I've heard of this scam before.

Just to give yourself piece of mind, you should call your nephew or his parents just to verify it is indeed a scam.

Yes, I've also heard of this one as well (often they call elderly people and claim they are their grandchild) which is part of the reason I was so suspicious. I texted his number as soon as I got off the phone to the 'lawyer' but have gotten no response (he is a mechanic and works in the bush on equipment and out of cell range, so not always quick to get back to callers) and my husband tried calling him but no answer that way either (which proves nothing unfortunately) The 'lawyer' called to get the number for the western union transfer they asked for and I told him I felt sure it was a scam and would not be sending any money. He told me it was not his job to try to convince me to do something I didn't want to do and he would get my nephew to call me back. Not too surprising I have not gotten any more calls.

Jax, if he were a minor I would agree with you but as it is he is an adult and it is up to him to talk to his mother about this and not my place to do it for him. I know this young man and altho he could conceivably get in this kind of trouble (he's young, single and makes poor choices at times) he would take the responsibility for his poor choice and talk to his mother himself.

 

[Lizzie]

It is unfortunate, but this scam and many others, have been going around for several years now. It is extremely difficult to catch the perps, since they are almost in some distant country and well hidden.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

The RCMP when I called were not at all interested in trying to catch these people. They asked me no questions and simply confirmed my suspicions that it was most likely a scam. I suppose they felt it would be a waste of effort since there is almost nothing solid to work with. I do think tho that those of us who are forced to deal with these scams have a responsibility to talk about the details and warn others, someone out there reported there experience to the media and that has given me a heads up so I wasn't drawn in. The scammers are very good tho, even tho I am confident that it was a scam I feel uncomfortably like I may have let my nephew down. There is still some small measure of doubt that my judgement (and that of 2 police officers and my husband

) is clear.

 

[Matt73]

110% a scam. A common one, too. You could have asked the person personal questions that only your nephew would know (ie. his mothers maiden name).

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Yes, Matt. I thought of that after I had hung up. It kind of comes as a surprise to get the call and you really barely have time to form a thought of your own. That of course would be part of how they work, but I am not one that likes to be rushed and so demanded the time to think things thro a bit, by then I had no way to ask the questions and the 'lawyer' just claimed to not have that information.

 

[supaspot]

scumbags

 

[Hosscrazy]

Common scam... no need to call his parents to verify - it's a scam!!!

Liz N.

 

[CZP1]

That sucks! People are desperate these days. I got one from someone claiming to be my SIL who said she was in France. Huh, sure, hung up on them.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Common scam... no need to call his parents to verify - it's a scam!!!

Liz N.

Oddly enough even knowing it is a common scam it doesn't feel very common when it happens to you. This is the kind of thing that is supposed to happen to other people and then you shake your head sadly when they fall for it and feel a bit superior because you would have known better. (speaking for myself here of course) Once I finally speak to my nephew i will either feel pleased with myself for not being taken in or (and this is not a likely outcome but until I absolutely confirm there is a slight chance)feel badly for failing someone I care about when they were in trouble. But I agree about the calling his parents thing. His mother would be very upset, she wouldn't look to confirm or hear the whole story before she stressed over it, I can't imagine putting her thro that without being sure.

 

[mickeymoto]

Even if it was real and not a scam, I would never bail anyone out on a DUI. I have had too many good friends that have lost family members to someone who was driving drunk. Personally I think anyone who gets a DUI should spend some time in jail and think about what they have done or what they "could" have been responsible for.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

For what its worth I agree with you but from the conversation I had with the person claiming to be my nephew I felt he was already going to be giving his life and choices a darn hard look. He's a pretty decent young man and since he had not hurt anyone and they seemed ready to let him off I thought there was probably more to the story that what I was hearing. That and the fact that I have never heard of a cop or court letting someone off on a dui after they had been arrested and charged regardless of paying some restitution so I was left wondering if the DUI charge was substantiated by evidence and I didn't want to see him loose his job etc. if there was some doubt about his guilt.

I do have an update on this

I just spoke to my nephew on the phone. He called from his cell in response to the text I had sent earlier. He spent his day in the middle of no where working on a piece of logging equipment and was out of cell range until a short while ago. He is fine and altho he was touched to know we would offer help if he got his sorry butt in trouble he also said something to the effect that if he had gone so far that he was making choices that were that bad he was probably better off behind bars so he couldn't do his or anyone else's life more harm. From what little I know tho they would have pulled his license but released him with a court date set sometime down the road. Anyway, at least now I know for sure it was a scam and my natural sense of suspicion saved me from sending these creeps any of our hard earned cash. Good guys (ME! LOL)- 1 , Bad guys - 0

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I was thinking about it, if it had been legit, I doubt your scared, crying, regretful nephew would have been playing name games from jail when he first called you (making you guess who it was).

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

You are no doubt right about that, there were so many little things that when looked at closely make it obvious that it could not be anything but a scam. It was only my inclination to 'save' those I care about that blurred the truth. I know they count on people rushing in to save a loved one but they are pretty good at leading a person where they want them to go. The very worst part is that even tho I didn't fall for it I know that many people will have and they will keep on doing it because it works.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Call his cell if you have his #! It can't/won't hurt a thing!! Maybe it will make you feel better!! Really... Call it!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Call his cell if you have his #! It can't/won't hurt a thing!! Maybe it will make you feel better!! Really... Call it!!

That is exactly what I did, I sent him a text as soon as I hung up from the original scam call, and my husband tried calling. Of course he was out of cell range for the day so neither of us got a response until evening but it was certainly the first thing I thought of. And you are right even tho I was 98% sure it was a scam I did feel better after I talked to him. In hind site I should have asked some more personal questions of the person claiming to be my nephew right at the beginning. If I had asked what his mothers maiden name was for example or which of our dogs was his favourite there is little likely hood that the attempted scam would have continued past that point.

 

[HGFarm]

My neighbors just got this SAME CALL. The problem is, their granddaughters are 6 years old. They knew it was a scam from the first second. These all stem from the Nigerian Mafia and scams they have put together and recruited people to help them get money from people who fall for this. They are also friending people in dating sites, facebook and other social media, employment sites, etc... with a big scam - then eventually ask for money.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My spidey senses tingle whenever someone asks for money and they need it in a hurry so that helped me take the time to verify things. I think it is important to spread the word about this kind of thing because I know I am more inclined to question the truth of things when I have heard similar stories that are scams. When you think how few people have to actually fall for these scams for them to rake in huge sums of money its no wonder they don't give up. For example they asked me for $2400+ , if they tried this on 1000 people that day and 10 % sent them the money they would make $24000 for the day. Pretty darn good money for making a couple of calls.