Are Your Grandparents Safe From Being Scammed?

Are scammers stealing from your grandparents?

By Kaiden Waldram, Marketing —

Six people have recently been arrested in the Iowa area for involvement in what is being called “grandparent scams”. The conspirators would call an elderly person, pretend to be their grandchild, and then say that they needed bail money wired to them. As many as 250 people across the United States were scammed.

Fake Problems

Scammers are becoming a large issue in our society. They might tell you they are a long lost relative who has fallen on hard times, or they pretend to be a government official telling you your taxes are overdue, or any other plausible story they can to get money from you. Scamming is becoming extremely prevalent and is very damaging.

Goodbye, Retirement

The grandparents that were scammed lost a combined total of three-quarters of a million dollars. That is a large sum of money that these poor grandparents lost because they thought a family member was in need. The government did find the criminals and convict them, but could more be done to help these types of things be avoided?

Identity Fraud

A company called Converus® is trying to stop fraud and identity theft. Converus® has created a new product called IdentityDetect® that helps banks and other institutions verify customers identities to make sure that people are who they say they are. This identity verification services could help decrease and perhaps eliminate fraud and identity theft.

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Photo by / Christian Newman