MORE ON "SEND MONEY" SCAM

A 92-year-old mother of a friend was scammed the other day, same old story—one of her kids was in distress and needed money. Two factors made it seem real to the mother.

I asked my friend, "Couldn't your mother tell it wasn't your voice on the phone?" She said, "No, because the caller said she had been in a car accident and sounded very upset and excited, not like her normal self." Then, to clinch it, the caller had an "attending policeman" (an imposter, of course) come on the line and verify what she had said. That made the whole thing sound real to the mother. She was told to wire $3000 by Western Union, and she did.

Fortunately, she then immediately called her daughter's home and learned that she was safe at home and there had been no accident. The mother got down to the Western Union office in time to stop the transaction from going through.