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San Diego, U.S.- Nearly 10 elderly grandparents in San Diego have been victimized by a telephone scam within the past week, internationally wiring as much as US$3,500 to a male imposter posing as a distressed family member, police warned Friday.

A caller has phoned senior citizens in the late evening or early morning hours, claiming by specific name to be a loved one under law-enforcement custody.

The caller requests the grandparent to send money via Western Union to his legal representation, friend, or the courts. Money, ranging from US$1,000 to US$3,500, has been transferred to multiple sites during the scam: Santiago, Dominican Republic; Quebec, Canada; and, Mexico.

"All the victims have indicated that the voice on the other end of the phone sounds like the voice of their loved one," said Lt. Leonard Mata of the Oceanside police in a release.

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COMMENTS
5 comment(s)
Written by: DirectorioDominicano, 30 Jul 2011 8:56 PM
From: Iran, DirectorioDominicano.com

These are probably the same people that send money to Africa, thinking a Nigerian prince
is gonna repay them with ACME oil company shares. It's survival of the fittest. and they are
obviously not the sharpest of the tools in the shed :)
Written by: daswolfgang, 1 Aug 2011 8:44 PM
From: St. Helena, saint helena island
Lets send some message to this criminal act.Whoever recieved the money should go to jail in USA FEDERAL JAIL.
Written by: tisha, 17 Aug 2011 1:06 AM
From: Bahrain
This scam has been going on since ages and I wonder still people fall into such traps.I thnk the scammers have gone smart and are now targeting elderly people since they know 70% of them doesnt bother to investigate about he phone calls and mail.I think the time has now come to invent a system just like the ones offered by http://www.alert-1.com for senior citizens.If we get the system like alert-1 then the senior citizen can alert the cyber police and hence they can take appropriate action on time and ensure that these scammers are put behind the bar.
Written by: Chastity_Harris, 20 Sep 2011 12:36 AM
From: United States
It's a shame these folks are in San Diego. If this scam happened in my area, as a personal injury lawyer from Houston - http://www.thehoustoninjurylawyers.com - I'd take their case pro bono. No one should take advantage of senior citizens, especially these days when so many are living paycheck to paycheck.
Written by: blairbiegler, 3 Jan 2012 5:34 AM
From: India
Its really a nice article. It has good content. Thanks for sharing it.
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