Family emergency scams
Page Article
Grandparent / Relative Scams
Scammers employ psychological tactics, exploit emotions, and use technology to deceive victims. Being cautious, verifying information, and maintaining open communication with family members are crucial in avoiding such scams.
- La estafa de los abuelos/parientes de confianza es una forma de fraude telefónico. El estafador llama por teléfono a un abuelo o pariente y finge estar en apuros y pide que se le envíen fondos a un lugar determinado.
- The scammer initiates contact, often through a phone call, pretending to be a grandchild or a relative in distress.
- They might claim to be involved in an accident, arrested, stranded, or facing some other urgent situation.
- The scammer relies on emotional manipulation and creates a sense of urgency to pressure the victim into taking immediate action.
- They may impersonate the grandchild/relative by mimicking their voice or gathering personal information from social media.
- The scammer pleads with the victim not to tell other family members, adding an element of secrecy to the situation.
- They ask for financial assistance, usually requesting a wire transfer, prepaid gift cards, or some other untraceable form of payment.
- To make the scam more convincing, the scammer might provide specific instructions on how to send the money quickly and discreetly.
- Victims, driven by concern for their loved ones, may fall for the scam and send money without verifying the caller's identity.
- Once the money is sent, it becomes nearly impossible to recover as the scammer typically disappears and moves on to new targets.
- Unfortunately, victims often realize they have been scammed after the fact, when they contact the actual grandchild/relative or other family members.
- ¿Cómo elige el estafador un objetivo? Nadie lo sabe con certeza. Es posible que las llamadas telefónicas se hagan al azar hasta que una persona mayor responda, o que los estafadores recojan información de Internet que les permita elegir los objetivos. Algunos han sugerido Facebook como posible fuente de información.
- ¿Por qué el objetivo no se da cuenta de que la persona que llama no es un nieto? Si el objetivo dice que la persona que llama no suena como su nieto, los estafadores pueden culpar a una mala conexión o a un resfriado. Además, identificar las voces por teléfono es difícil para algunas personas mayores.
- ¿Sabe el estafador el nombre del nieto? Parece que a veces los estafadores disponen de los nombres correctos. Esta es una de las razones por las que algunos investigadores piensan que los estafadores están obteniendo información de Internet. Sin embargo, lo más frecuente es que los estafadores obtengan el nombre de un nieto del objetivo, que a menudo ni siquiera se da cuenta de que ha proporcionado un nombre.
- What kind of stories do the grandparent scammers use? The scammers often say that the grandchild needs money because of an accident, an injury, a theft, or an arrest. Sometimes the "grandchild" pleads that other family members not be told because DUI or embarrassing circumstances are involved.
- Can victims of the grandparent scam recover their money? Due to the nature of wire transfers and the fact that most cases involve U.S. citizens wiring money to other countries, recovery of funds is very difficult.
- What amounts of money are involved? Amounts can vary widely, starting with less than $1,000. Often scammers who are successful in persuading targets to wire money will immediately ask for a second transfer.
- ¿Existen otros resultados negativos de ser estafado? Sí. Las personas que son víctimas de estafas pueden perder la fe en su propio juicio, una duda que pueden compartir los miembros de la familia. A veces el resultado es que una persona mayor es despojada prematuramente del control de su propio dinero. A veces, las personas mayores se vuelven indecisas a la hora de responder a sus teléfonos.
- Why can't we catch the scammers? The nature of international wire transfers makes it difficult to catch the perpetrators. Many times they use prepaid cell phones that cannot be tracked. Some scammers have been caught and charged.
- Why would anyone fall for this scam? Scammers can be very persuasive. In addition, the emotional distress caused by being told that a loved one is in trouble can make one abandon rational thought.
- What should be done if someone falls victim to this scam? The victim should immediately notify the wire transfer company. In addition, the following entities should be notified:
- Local police
- State attorney general
- The Federal Trade Commission
How Scammers Exploit AI for Emergency Scams
Impersonating a loved one:
- Scammers gather information about the victim's family members through social media or other online sources.
- Personal information may be purchased from data brokers or obtained through email account hacking.
- Using voice cloning technology, scammers create convincing fake recordings of the loved one in distress.
- Scammers claim emergencies like accidents, kidnappings, or arrests, requesting immediate money transfer.
Creating fake recordings:
- AI tools are used to generate fake voice recordings of a loved one's voice.
- Voice synthesis analyzes facial movements, lip movements, and visual cues to produce realistic-sounding voices.
- Short video footage of a person's face from publicly available sources is used to create voice clones.
- Many voice synthesis tools are free or low-cost and require only seconds of video footage.
Manipulating voice messages:
- Scammers manipulate existing voice messages from a loved one.
- The tone of the message is altered to create a sense of distress or urgency.
- Scammers exploit the victim's emotions to convince them to act quickly without verifying the message's legitimacy.
¿Cómo se puede evitar ser una víctima?
Be careful with personal information:
- Scammers can extract your voice from videos on social media.
- Limit the personal information and content you share online.
- Consider making your profiles private to restrict access to friends and family.
Use a family code word:
- Create a unique code word known only to you and your loved ones.
- It can be used during emergencies to verify identities.
- Keep the code word private among family and friends.
Be cautious of unsolicited calls or messages:
- Exercise caution if you receive unexpected calls or messages.
- Verify the person's identity before sending money.
- Hang up and call the person directly to verify their claims.
- Nunca envíe dinero a una persona desconocida. Si recibe una llamada sobre un familiar en apuros en un país extranjero, verifique la información con sus familiares. Otro método es tener una contraseña familiar, como el nombre de una mascota, que pueda utilizar para verificar la identidad de la persona que llama.
- Construya un muro alrededor de su ordenador. Utiliza programas antivirus y antiespías para evitar que los intrusos roben información personal de tu ordenador.
- Don't open file attachments in emails from strangers. These can contain programs that enable crooks to get into your computer remotely. Be cautious on social media. Anything you reveal about your family, travels, or schedule can be easily picked up by bad guys.
- Haz muchas preguntas. Si recibe una apasionada llamada de dinero de un familiar, respire hondo e intente no emocionarse. En su lugar, haga algunas preguntas que serían difíciles de responder correctamente para un impostor. Por ejemplo, el nombre de la mascota de la persona, la fecha de nacimiento de su madre o el nombre de su jefe.
- Ralentiza el proceso. Nunca digas que sí a una transferencia de dinero basándote en una sola llamada. Cuelga siempre y haz alguna investigación, como intentar contactar con la persona directamente en su teléfono móvil o de trabajo, o hablar con alguien cercano para corroborar la situación.
- No se avergüence. Si teme haber sido víctima de una estafa, no deje que el orgullo le impida ponerse en contacto con las autoridades. Y si has hecho una transferencia de dinero, llama inmediatamente al servicio de transferencia de dinero para denunciar el fraude. Si el dinero aún no ha sido recogido, puedes recuperarlo.