Phone scam rips frightened grandparents

GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) - A phone call from a foreign country couldn't be worse than a grandchild begging "bail me out of jail" until the loving grandparents find out they've been scammed.

They loved the kid. What could they do? In New Mexico some grandparents have dug deep to come up with the bail money only to learn later they've been ripped off.

Jerry Farris in Grants is one of them. He's a sharp 92 year old.

Marguerite Dimas in Santa Fe is another one. She's 70 and said she's the kind of person others look to for guidance.

"I swallowed it hook, line and sinker," Farris said.

"I thought I could handle it," Dimas added.

It's a phone scam that preys on people's fears.

"He just said 'Hello grandpa. This is Kevin,'" Farris explained.

Dimas got a similar call: "He said, 'I'm in Canada, and I'm in jail.'"

Both said the voice didn't exactly seem like their grandchild, but Farris says his caller claimed to have a cold, while Dimas attributed the strange voice to the stress of being stuck in jail. Both con artists asked for bail money.

"My main thought was to get this kid home," Dimas said adding at any cost. In fact, she didn't even have the $6,000 requested so she got a cash advance on her credit card.

Farris sent $4,500.

"They knew all about me and all about him," Farris said. "Where he got it, I don't know. I guess it's available."

Both followed instructions to wire the money to Canada.

"Be highly suspicious, always," said Rebecca Branch who's in charge of protecting consumers for New Mexico's Office of the Attorney General. "It's extremely difficult to catch the people if it occurs outside our boundaries.

"It's very difficult for us to garner the resources to go into other countries."

The FBI has working relationships with police agencies in other countries, but that may not be enough, FBI Special Agent Darrin Jones told KRQE News 13.

"One of the biggest challenges is not just identifying the scheme, but trying to identify the victims all over the country identified," Jones said. The Feds do work with other countries on international scams when enough victims come forward.

"Very quickly we're dealing with sums of money in schemes that we can investigate and can dedicate resources to," he explained.

And the recent scam calls to New Mexico have generated an international response.

"Got a call on Monday from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," Dimas said. Still she isn't waiting around knowing she has to pay off a high-interest credit card debt, and pushing full retirement further away.

"I thought by this time I wouldn't have to work so much, but I can do it," she said.

For Farris the loss is more personal than money.

"It's not to the point that it's going to put me in the poor house," he said. "That makes you stupid.

"You feel just like you've been had. We got took, and that's all there was to it."

Both the FBI and the Attorney General's office said cons will stop only when they're not successful. The best way to do that is by educating people to recognize the crimes before they fall victim to them.

Some of those resources include:

• NMAG: Scams and Consumer Advisories
  
  
• Internet Crime Complaint Center
  
  
• Looks Too Good Too Be True