'Grandson Scam' Aimed At Alabaster Resident

ALABASTER, AL - Alabaster Police say a local resident was the target of a common scam aimed at elderly people. The scam involves a person calling and claiming to be the victim's grandchild, in some kind of trouble, and needing money.

The caller told the Alabaster resident that he had been arrested at school and needed a large sum of money to get out of jail. Fortunately, according to a report by the APD, the resident did not give any of his financial information or send any money. He hung up the phone and immediately called a family member to verify the caller's story. The resident quickly discovered that the caller was an imposter attempting to scam him, but these scammers are clever enough to know details that can often make the scam successful. In this instance, the caller had the correct name of the resident's grandson.

This scam usually targets the elderly and uses a similar scenario to attempt to gain money from the victim. The AARP has posted several warnings about this scam, and several Alabaster residents responded to a social media post by the Alabaster PD about similar instances of the same scam happening to themselves or neighbors.

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