{"id":79804,"date":"2016-09-12T06:56:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=79804"},"modified":"2016-09-12T06:56:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:56:55","slug":"dewine-warns-of-grandparent-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/09\/12\/dewine-warns-of-grandparent-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"DeWine warns of grandparent scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n

COLUMBUS — In recognition of National Grandparents Day this past Sunday, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is warning families to beware of scams targeting grandparents.<\/p>\n

\"Ohio
Ohio A-G\u00a0Mike DeWine<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than 30 Ohioans have reported losing money to the \u201cgrandparent scam\u201d this year, after they received a phony call claiming their grandchild was in trouble. The average loss was about $4,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cScam artists rely on scare tactics and surprise,\u201d Attorney General DeWine said. \u201cThey\u2019ll call, crying, saying \u2018Hi, grandma\u2019 or \u2018Hi, grandpa.\u2019 They\u2019ll claim there\u2019s been an accident and they need money right away. They\u2019re very good actors. They try to catch people off guard so that they send money before they realize it\u2019s a scam.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grandparent scam often begins with a phone call saying a grandchild was in an accident, found with drugs, driving under the influence, arrested, or thrown in jail. Grandparents are told to pay to cover bail, medical or hospital fees, attorney fees, or court costs.<\/p>\n

The callers generally instruct grandparents to go to the store right away to buy gift cards (such as iTunes or Amazon gift cards) and then read the card numbers over the phone. This allows scammers to drain the cards\u2019 funds almost instantly. Alternatively, grandparents may be asked to pay via money transfer or even cash.<\/p>\n

If grandparents pay once, they likely will receive additional calls telling them to send more money to help the grandchild return home safely. Eventually, grandparents discover that their grandchild was not truly in trouble.<\/p>\n

Tips to prevent grandparent scams:<\/p>\n

Communicate with your family members<\/strong>. Talk to your family about scams and discuss how you would communicate during a true emergency.<\/p>\n

Verify a caller\u2019s claims<\/strong>. If you receive a call about a family member who claims to be in trouble, contact someone else (such as the person\u2019s parents) to determine if the person truly needs your help. Be wary if the caller says \u201cDon\u2019t tell mom or dad\u201d or asks you not to contact any other family members. This is a tactic used by scammers. When in doubt, ask questions only your real family members would know how to answer, such as the last time you saw each other.<\/p>\n

Limit sharing information online<\/strong>. Don\u2019t post upcoming travel plans or detailed personal information online, and encourage your family members to take similar precautions. Scammers may use information available online to learn more about their targets and to make their ploys seem believable. Check your account privacy settings and limit who can view your information.<\/p>\n

Be wary of specific payment requests<\/strong>. If someone tells you that you must pay using a gift card, prepaid reloadable card, money transfer, or cash, it may be a scam. These payment methods are difficult to trace and used regularly in scams. Once the money is sent, it is very difficult to recover.<\/p>\n

The Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office warns consumers about scams and offers a variety of educational materials, including a phone scams checklist<\/a>. To learn more or to report scams to the Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office, visit www.OhioProtects.org<\/a> or call 800.282.0515.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted information COLUMBUS — In recognition of National Grandparents Day this past Sunday, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is warning families to beware of scams targeting grandparents. More than 30 Ohioans have reported losing money to the \u201cgrandparent scam\u201d this year, after they received a phony call claiming their grandchild was in trouble. The average […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 21:56:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}