A new viral scam is targeting older people across the nation, and it is truly terrifying, as Pittsburgh resident Beth Royce found out from a horrifying personal experience.
Royce said she woke up to an early morning call. Her phone lit up with her younger sister’s contact info and photo, so Royce answered. But it was not her sister’s voice on the other end of the line.
Instead, Royce said she heard an unfamiliar male voice say, “I got this girl and I’m going to kill her if you don’t send me money,” according to a report by “Good Morning America” (watch the video below).
The distraught victim said The man cautioned her not to contact the police or he would “shoot the sister in the head.” A petrified Royce silently signaled her mother, who was in town visiting, and continued talking.
“He sounded crazy. I heard muffled sobs in the background that sounded like a woman’s voice, so, of course, I thought this was my sister,” Royce said.
During the 16-minute conversation, the voice demanded money via Cash App or Zelle, and she sent a total of $1,000.
Royce, who is deep into wedding planning, said she sent the scammer half of the $1,000 via Venmo and the other half on Zelle, per his demands.
Meanwhile, her mother contacted her sister separately and learned she was safe in her apartment in Seattle.
Royce said the police came to her house about an hour after the call and collected information about the caller’s contact numbers and her own banking information.
Last week, the FBI office in Miami issued a public warning advising people to be aware of the similar “grandparent fraud scam,” which is becoming increasingly common, according to supervisory Special Agent Zacharia Baldwin.
That scam targets older people who are told in a phone call that a grandchild identified by name is under arrest and needs bail money, or some similarly fabricated emergency, the FBI said. They are then instructed to wrap money in a certain way and give it to a ride-hailing service driver.
Watch the report below from Good Morning America.:
