Mar 8, 2020 4 min read

When a Morris Township woman’s grandson called her Monday night and said he had been in a car accident and needed money, she did not hesitate to help him.

The only problem – it was not her grandson. The voice on the other end knew her grandson’s name, knew to call her “Bebe,” and according to her, even sounded like him.

She was told her grandson was in Virginia and had rented a car. He got hit going through a red light and was healing from a broken nose in a jail’s infirmary.

“My heart stopped,” said the woman, who asked that she remain anonymous. “He hung up and a man came on. His name was Jason Moore, and said he was a pro bono attorney for my grandson. He needed bail money, $7,500.”

She was also instructed not to tell her grandson’s parents.

She went to the bank and got the money, and sent it overnight as priority mail to an address in the Bronx borough of New York City, which she was told was the address of a bail bondsman.

“I can’t tell you how stupid, stupid I was,” she said. “I feel so violated.”

The woman said that man claiming to be Jason Moore called after receiving her $7,500, and insisted they needed more, because her grandson was being charged with a DUI and that a pregnant woman lost her child as a result of the accident.

They wanted $25,000, the woman said.

She said she did not send the money, and contacted her daughter to learn her grandson was fine.

What happened to this woman is what Greene County Regional Police Captain William DeForte called the “grandparents scam.”

DeForte spoke with the woman and took her statement Wednesday. She provided all the phone numbers that contacted her and information about where she sent her money.

According to DeForte, the scammers involved are scouring the social media profiles of their victims and relatives, particularly on Facebook, to learn as much about their personal lives as they can.

“I am going to recommend that they put their settings to private so the general public can not see personal information, that they do not add people as friends that they do not know and that they take down personal information such as phone numbers and addresses,” DeForte said.

DeForte added a caller asking for cash and telling the victim they should not tell anybody about what is going on are signs it is a scam.

The woman who lost her money is not alone, both her and DeForte are aware of other grandparents who have fallen for the same scam recently.

These victims lost tens of thousands of dollars. However, they have not gone to the police to file official reports.

“It’s a humiliating experience,” DeForte said. “A lot of elderly people are hiding this because they feel like they’re stupid.”

DeForte urged any victims of this scam to report it to the police. The longer a victim waits, the more difficult it is for police to investigate the scam, he said.

The woman chose to share her story because she does not want anyone else to fall victim to the scam.

DeForte said the scam is not limited to Greene County, and that his department has been in contact with the U.S. Attorney General’s office.

According to Chartiers Township Police Chief James Horvath, his department dealt with a similar scam a couple years ago. He said scams are often cyclical.

“People get wrapped up because they’re pulling on that heart string … They prey on the good of people,” Horvath said.

After the woman from Morris Township had gone to police, she received one more phone call from “Jason Moore.”

DeForte said not to let scammers know you’re on to them, because it may hinder police investigations.