Basking Ridge Grandpa Cheated Out Of $27K In 'Grandson Scam'

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A Basking Ridge grandpa lost $27,000 when he fell victim to a the "grandson in jail scam" recently.

On Nov. 14 a 40 block of Holmesbrook Road resident said got a phone call on their home line from someone claiming to be their grandson, Bernards Township Police Lt. Jon Burger said.

The "grandson" said he was on vacation in Florida and was in an Uber vehicle that was pulled over by police with a large amount of drugs found in the trunk, Burger said.

The "grandson" told the grandpa he needed $27,000 to be wired immediately to a bank account to cover the full bail, Burger said.

The grandpa sent the money and then checked with relatives to find out if what happened to the "grandson" was true.

"Well it unfortunately wasn’t," Burger said.

"Prior to transferring any money, it is strongly recommended that residents stop, think, verify on their own the information being provided by whomever and recognize that Google play cards, iTune cards and bitcoin requests for payment are usually associated with scams," Burger said.

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