ROCKLEDGE, Fla. – It was a small win in the ever-expanding epidemic that is draining seniors of their life savings – telephone, email and social media scams.
In hopes of saving their fellow seniors from a scam, a Brevard County couple shared with News 6 their story of outsmarting a scammer who pretended to be their grandson and his attorney.
The landline phone rang in their Rockledge home and Chris Scott picked it up.
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“Hello?” Scott said into the phone. “Bram? How are you? What? Your voice I don’t recognize the voice?”
Bram is in fact the name of the couple’s grandson, but they’d lost touch with him. The caller also knew the nickname Bram had for his grandfather.
“What, you’ve been in an accident?” Scott said to the caller. “Where?”
Chris and Denise Scott have gotten used to sales calls at all hours of the day, but they’ve never gotten a call from someone impersonating their grandson.
The caller, “Bram,” said he’d gotten into an accident on U.S. 1 and hit a pregnant woman who’d been rushed to the hospital. “Bram” said he was promptly arrested and was calling from jail. “Bram” then handed the phone to his “attorney” who informed the Scotts they needed to come up with $9,000 so “Bram” could post his $30,000 bond.
Chris Scott was confused and began asking the alleged attorney questions.
“What was he charged with?” Scott asked. “Why is he in jail? And you need $9,000 to get him out of jail?
Chris Scott, coincidentally, is an insurance claims adjuster and investigates accidents for a living.
“I just asked where it happened at, what he was doing, what part of your car hit the other vehicle, were there any other vehicles involved in your accident, which way was that vehicle going?” Scott said.
Meanwhile, Denise Scott was texting her grandson to confirm he was fine. The real Bram replied quickly he was not in an accident.
That confirmation gave Chris Scott the confidence to question the caller even further.
“$30,000 is the bail?” Chris Scott asked. “Well that normally is not the way it works, it’s usually 10% of the amount.”
Eventually, the “attorney” hung up on Chris.
Denise believes her husband frustrated the scam artist.
“Ask questions,” Chris Scott said. “And by asking questions he got frustrated and hung up on me.”
The Scotts understand that many seniors live alone and are not able to text or call a loved one while a scam artist is on the phone. To that they say tell the caller you’ll call him back!
If “Bram” was truly sitting in the Brevard County Jail, there would have been no rush to pull together $9,000 cash. The Scotts could’ve taken their time to contact their grandson, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the hospital and or the Brevard County Jail.
The Scotts understand that thinking on your feet is not so easy, so they came up with this list for any senior who receives a call from a “loved one in trouble.”
Ask questions
- Are you injured?
- Is the other party injured?
- Where did this happen?
- What direction were you coming from?
- What direction were they coming from?
- What are you charged with?
- Where are you being held?
- Scammers don’t like questions and may give answers that don’t make sense.
- Contact your loved one.
- Bail is always 10% of the bond-scammers ask for more.
- The police department won’t send a courier to pick up your money.
- Police departments don’t accept gift cards.
- Real attorneys don’t do these things, either.
We all want our loved ones safe and to make them whole as quickly as possible, but:
- Take a breath
- Tell them you will call them back. They have been known to give their contact information.
- Contact the police department where your loved one is supposedly being held.
- If still concerned, contact other law enforcement offices in your area.
- Report this to the police.
If this turns out to be real, call the police. They will guide you on the proper procedures that you will need to follow.