Grandmother warns of scam
McHENRY – An 86-year-old grandmother doesn’t want anyone else to fall victim to a telephone scam that cost her $6,000.
Bette Benson of McHenry called local police and the FBI after finding out she had been duped by scammers into sending about $6,000 via MoneyGram to Canada.
“I just want to alert people,” she said. “I don’t want this to happen to any other grandmothers.”
Benson, a widow, said she received a phone call last week from a person she thought was her grandson. The caller said he had been arrested in Canada and needed money for bail. Another caller claimed to be a police officer. Benson, unaware that her grandson had lost his cell phone, went to Wal-Mart to wire about $3,000 to Canada. After several more phone calls, Benson returned to Wal-Mart a few hours later to wire another $3,000, believing that her grandson needed the additional money to get back into the United States.
“It was an elaborate scheme, and they were able to elicit all sorts of information,” Benson said.
Benson unraveled the scheme and called police after seeing her grandson at a graduation party over the weekend. FBI officials told her there was little hope of recovering the money, Benson said.
The Better Business Bureau has warned of similar scams that prey on the emotions of grandparents. In news releases, the organization encourages grandparents to verify the supposed arrest, detention or troubled situation of the family member and to avoid wire transfers if possible, which are hard to trace.