Wyoming Grandparents Warned

Sadly, the holiday season is a season to be scamming. Criminals are conning Wyoming grandparents out of thousands of dollars by claiming their grandchildren are in distress. The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office has recently seen a rise in the number of this type of scam and suspects that the number will increase even more over the holiday season. Here in Teton County, Sheriff Jim Whalen says at least one resident recently fell victim to the scam. He said the victim received a supposed call from a distressed grandchild who said he was in a jail in Mexico.  The grandparent being concerned wired about $3000 to cover the bail.  It turned out the grandchild had not even left Jackson.  Typically, the bogus grandchild or phony official asks the grandparent to immediately wire money to post bail or pay for medical treatment or car repairs or a return plane ticket. The scammer then asks for several thousand dollars, and may even call back again several hours or days later asking for more money. Whalen says your best defense is not to react out of emotion, but to check out the viability of the call before responding.  Whalen says, “They must check out the source before they do anything because these people will go to any means to get folks to send money.”  He suggests calling other family members or other associates who might know the whereabouts of the purported victim and ascertain the situation.  Whalen says he believes most people have become wary enough about such calls to ignore them, but there are those who do fall victim.