CAMDEN — By BRADLY GILL
Staff Writer
A Camden resident has alerted the Camden News that her mother who is suffering from early dementia was targeted by scammers posing as a lawyer representing her grandchild in order to obtain money from the women.
The resident informed the Camden News that her son is stationed in Japan and was never in any danger or the hospital.
Attorney General Rutledge offered the following tips to avoid falling victim to the “favorite grandson” scam:
• Resist pressure to act quickly.
• Never give or wire money based on any unsolicited phone call.
• Verify your family member’s location by directly calling another family member or the grandchild.
• Do not send money to an unknown account or entity.
• Ask the caller for his or her name, and if they cannot provide it, hang up immediately.
• Have a plan in place when family members are traveling so that you can easily identify whether or not a need is genuine.
• Contact the Attorney General’s Office at (800) 482-8982 if you have been a victim of this scam.
The Attorney General’s Office reports elderly Arkansans losing thousands of dollars after falling for this scam. The Federal Trade Commission reported 40,000 cases occurring in the United States between 2010 and 2013.
For more information and tips on how to avoid a scam, call the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office at (800) 482-8982
Additionally the Camden Police Department warned of an additional scam on its Facebook page.
“It has been brought to our attention that there is a new phone scam going around. The callers claim to be AT&T and informing you that your service will be disconnected due to non payment. The caller is asking for your last four digits of our social security number and your four digit PIN number. If you receive one of these calls do not give out any of your personal information.”