'Grandkid Scam' Bilks Arlington Heights Grandma Out of $4K in Gift Cards

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Police are warning residents about "grandkid scams" after a woman was swindled out of $4,000 worth of gift cards by the scheme last week.

An alert was issued Monday about the scam that involves an offender calling a victim and pretending to be a grandchild in urgent financial trouble, such as needing to pay an impending medical bill. In the recent incident involving a village resident, a woman was called Thursday, Jan. 5, by someone who claimed her grandson needed bail money, according to Arlington Heights police.

The caller told the victim to buy $4,000 worth of gift cards from Target and asked the victim to call back with the cards' information, police said.

"Scammers are good at pretending to be people they are not," stated the village alert, which also was posted to police department's Facebook page. "They can be convincing: sometimes using information from social networking sites, or hacking into your loved one's email account, to make it seem more real. And they'll pressure you to send moeny before you have time to think."

Police gave residents the following important tips to avoid being bilked out of big bucks in one of these schemes:

• Double check to make sure the phone number belongs to your grandchild.
• Check with other family members
• Even if you haven't received a call, check with neighbors and friends to see if they've encountered the scam and so you can possibly know what to expect if you're targeted.

image via Arlington Heights Police Department

Like What You're Reading? Stay Patched In!

• Like our Crime page on Facebook
• Live Traffic and Transit Updates