I just had a strange phone call and

[lowell holmes]

I answered it and a young male voice said "How are you doing Grandpa".

I knew he was not my grandson, and said who is this, and he responded with my second oldest son's name.

I ask him where he lived and he hung up.

Is this new racket?

[Pete Taran]

Was he asking for the location of your Disston Hand Saws?

[Bill Houghton]

Sure sounds like it; these scams depend on the small percentage of people more easily fooled than you.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

There is a scam out there where someone calls an elderly person's number and asks for Grandpa or Grandma. Then the caller begins a conversation and listens carefully while slowly milking information until they learn the name of a grandchild. They will then claim they are in a desperate need of money (in jail in Canada, for example) for a minor speeding issue, or car wreck with no insurance, or car breakdown with no money to pay for repairs. They ask if the relative could send money via services at Wal-mart to a Walmart near the caller's location.

A few years ago, this scam was worked on my now deceased Mom. When my Mom's husband answered the phone, he told my Mom he thought it was my younger son and he spoke my son's name. Now the caller learned who to claim to be. When my Mom asked why he didn't call me, he said he didn't want me to know. She didn't have the money but called my brother in another state who sent the money via services offered at a local Wal-Mart to one in a Canadian town. Later that day, my brother became suspicious and called me to see if I knew where my son was. I said I can find out really quick. I called my son and then called my brother back. IIRC, this scam cost my brother $500.

[lowell holmes]

I have five grandsons and I recognize their voices. I don't respond well to blind phone calls.
At one time I kept a police whistle b the phone and would blow it in the phone when an annoying call was received.

If I get many more, I well buy another whistle.

[Wade Lippman]

We did that a few times when we were 10. Didn't work out very well, so we quit. Could be that simple.

[Ron Citerone]

My aunt got scammed by an emergency call from some guy who wasn't her grandson, she was pretty old at the time. She said his voice sounded funny and they said it was because it was so far away. She even went to the local newspaper who wrote the story. She didn't want anyone else to get scammed. No Joke.

[Scott Donley]

I got the same call last week. Him-Hi Grandpa it's me your Grandson. Me- When did you get a sex change, I only have a Granddaughter, He hung up. I have no Grand kids.

[Mike Manning]

Good one Scott!

[Mark Rainey]

My 85 yo mother in law got the exact same call a couple of years ago. She was confused at first, then figured out it was a scam and hung up.

[Joyce Knights]

Careful in telling information about you. I feel like its a scam. A couple of days ago somebody uses my email account to purchase a power belt and I am so freaking shock because I don't have an account on the online shop. A representative calls to tell me that they will be shipping the item and ask me to verify my location. I immediately hang up the phone.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Sister got fake call from grandson, only problem was her grandson happened to be sitting in her living room when she answered the phone. Friends co worker is scheduled to testify before Congress tomorrow, because her parents lost $80,000 to such a scheme. When the US attorney goes after Walmart, Green Dot cards, etc, under the RICO act, this will stop. Notice they no longer ask for Western Union fund transfers? Research the fine Western union paid under the RICO act, because they profited from the illegal transfer of funds in these type scams. That's why we have an answering machine on our land line. The land line is because of my business, FYI.

[Bill Carey]

I got one of those about 6 months ago. And last week I got the one that starts Hi this is Chase calling about your credit card. My favorite was the one my sister got which opened with Hi this is the social security office and we want you to confirm the account number at your bank so we can make sure your money is going to the right place. And the IRS one. It's to the point where if I don't know the number you'll be leaving a message. But there are some funny moments. Check out this 10 minute video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ) on Ted Talks by James Veitch. Pretty funny if you have the time for it.

[Jim Andrew]

I had a similar message on facebook. Got a message that a cousin was stuck in a foreign country till he came up with a sum of money, At first I thought about it, then wondered why he would not contact his folks. The cousin was NOT out of the country.

[Jim Koepke]

I answered it and a young male voice said "How are you doing Grandpa".

I knew he was not my grandson, and said who is this, and he responded with my second oldest son's name.

I ask him where he lived and he hung up.

Is this new racket?

No, it is not new and yes it is a scam.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I used to keep a police whistle next to the phone and when I received prank calls blow it into the phone and hang up.
I think it is time for another whistle.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I kept getting calls from a guy with a local accent claiming he was stuck in Tortola and needed me to go buy him a phone card. I kept hanging up on him. Finally I decided to play with him. The conversation starts out with "Hey, it's me- how you doing man? Long time no see...." which is how he always would start- hoping someone would be embarrassed to say they don't know who it is. He wanted phone cards, so I pretended to be going into the store and buying phone cards. He asked me to scratch off and give him the number on the card- so I made up some numbers. He thanked me and hung up- actually even said give his regards to mom. Haha!!! What a guy, ay? He actually called back later- "Hey man, the numbers no good- can you read them again- " so I once again played him and asked him to verify the numbers I gave him. He read them back, and I said, "No, man- the 8 should be a 9." "Oh, okay, thanks," he said, and hung up. Again he calls me back and I told him, "Dude I've been scamming you all along because you are a worthless scum so I thought I'd waste your time just like you wasted mine- how does it feel?" He cussed me and hung up. The calls stopped after that.

[Kev Williams]

And then there's this nonsense that seems to be gaining popularity:

https://fox13now.com/2018/09/04/layton-woman-warns-others-after-falling-for-virtual-kidnapping-scam/

[Bill Carey]

Had a new one on social security yesterday. Guy calls my wife and tells her she needs to activate her medicare card, and could she give him the number on her new card. (for you yunguns, they changed all the medicare cards from using your SS number to a random number). So she give him some made up number and he says one of the digits is wrong, could she give him the number on her old card - yep, her SS number. She put him on speaker so I could enjoy it and asked for a number to call him back, and his name, and his extension and his SS number. He stammered a lot and she told him she didn't believe he was with the SS office. And then the clincher: What would your Mother think of you? He told her she was rude and hung up. Unbelievable.

[Doug Garson]

My wife and I have both received hoax calls with a twist! The calls were in Chinese! I ignored them and they went to voicemail. I deleted the voicemails but the calls continued so I got curious. I decided to play back the message and use Google translate. It worked and I was able to hear the message in English. The caller claimed to be from the Chinese embassy and was asking for my help in a sting operation in China to catch crooks who were kidnapping Chinese students in Canada and extorting their parents in China to pay a ransom. A quick Google search found that it was in fact an attempt to extort funds from Chinese parents of students studying in Canada. How they got my cell number and thought I was a Chinese student is puzzling, probably just random.