grandparent moneygram scam

Where Moneygram is involved, scammers target all sorts of people regardless of age, gender or background. Retired senior citizens are no exception to the moneygram scam. Fraudsters are potentially more confident dealing with retired people given that some maybe are vunerable. A senior citizen might receive a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be their grandchild or acting on behalf of them.
If the caller claims to be the grandchild, they may say the the name of grandchild 'Hi, this is James'. They are aware of the name having discovered it from an associate of the grandparent. On many occasions they fail to mention the name saying something along the lines of 'Hi grandpa, I am in big trouble' and wait for the grandparent to guess the name of the grandchild, all part of the moneygram scam ploy.
In the ensuing telephone conversation, the scammer will let the grandparent know the difficulties they are in. It could be for example an accident overseas, in trouble with the law or a combination of both. And they are in need of financial help to assist the difficulties they are in. It could be because they have been assaulted physically requiring hospital treatment, arrested for breaking the law such as possession of narcotics or any other plausible reason that require finance.
A variation of it involves someone acting on behalf of the grandchild. A con artist claiming to a lawyer acting on behalf of the grandchild may ask for money to pay legal fees or someone from the hospital may call asking for fees for medical purposes. Sometimes the grandchild and another party may be involved. The scammer posing as the 'grandchild' may pass the phone over to the 'police officer' who will explain the incident in greater detail with why money is required.
The con artist is often a very good storytellers or actor. They induce the victim into conversation, able to answer questions posed by the grandparent such as why their voice sounds different to normal and play on the emotions of the emotions of the grandparent. They would typically say the shock and the panic caused by the incident has led to them sounding and talking differently to normal. The scammer would ask the grandparent not to let the parents or any other relative know, not bring worries to relatives or because they don't want to be in any sort of trouble with the parents.
They are told to wire the funds through Moneygram as it is a fast and convenient means of accessing the money. Thus enabling medical attention quickly or able to seek attention for for violations of the law.
Quite often fraudsters continue to demand money from the senior citizen until they refuse. Often stories like 'I have in an accident and need money to pay for medical attention' are used initially. Then other stories such as 'The police have become involved, they found narcotics in my possession, I need money to hire a lawyer'. This certainly is an unlucky person!
The transient nature of Moneygram scams where different countries are involved and the fact that little or no identification is required make it difficult for the con artist to be tracked.
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