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CARACAS, VENEZUELA - JUNE 26: Twenty US dollar bills are seen at the cash drawer of a bakery shop on June 26, 2019 in Caracas, Venezuela. Everyday, more Venezuelans use American dollar notes to buy groceries, pay a hair cut or fill the tank of their cars and motorbikes. As IMF forecasts a 10 million percent inflation for 2019 in Venezuela, using dollars is a way to protect savings. Today, one US Dollar is worth 6,359 bolivares soberanos according to Venezuela Central Bank. Due to official restrictions, most people get dollars in the black market at higher rates.
It's the best time for senior citizens to double up on their guard as they are the easiest targets for a scammer who are looking for quick cash during these times of pandemic. That is the reason why Michael Deal, the police chief of Winter Park, shared a recent story regarding grandparents in his area who were scammed out of $16,000.
The police chief shared that it is important to give out this information now so that no more person will fall into the hands of the prey, as these can also be used as a teachable moment to wipe this scam out.
According to Deal, the senior couple was called by the criminals in Winter Park claiming that they were their granddaughter and her lawyer last September 3. The Police Chief also shared that the criminals claimed that their granddaughter had been in an accident and needs emergency money of $16,000 as bail for her to go out of jail, Fox News reported.
After the emergency call made by the criminals, the grandfather withdrew the money from the bank and once the money was ready, criminals sent a courier to the couple's home to collect the money.
To keep their privacy, the names of the victim couple were not disclosed. The senior citizens only realized that they had been scammed a few hours later after they were able to speak to their granddaughter on the phone and learned that there was neither accident nor arrest that happened.
Because the victims were embarrassed, according to the deal they waited until the end of the day to contact the Police Department of Winter Park.
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According to Sioux County Radio, Deal mentioned in his revelation that the scammers in this particular case had a courier shows up that is why they hunt for the vehicle description and also the description of the courier who picked up the money.
The police chief stated that it will be quite difficult for them to solve the case but they currently actively working on the case and hopefully they will.
Deal emphasized that in order to avoid these kinds of scams, the key is to probe personal questions that only the person involved or mentioned in the situation can answer.
He also added that grandparents must resist the urge of not wanting to offend their grandchildren with such questions as it gives that impulse to criminals that they will take advantage of when it comes to them.
The police made an additional reminder regarding the security measures, he mentioned that once a family member has been arrested and needs bail money, ask for the sheriff or police's department that executed the arrest and make a confirmation call to verify.
Most of the cases, if the possible victim will be asking questions, scammers are mostly going to hang up and find other victims, so Deal pushes everyone who will be in that situation to ask questions, take a pause and a moment. He also emphasized that taking a few minutes to verify if the call is really in trouble is not going to change everything.
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