Grandparent and Emergency Scams
When it comes to exploiting family relationships, there are few scams quite as targeted as the grandparent scam. From 2015 to 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has collected over 91,000 reports from seniors who received troubling calls or messages from someone posing as their grandchild in need of immediate assistance and emergency funds.
In this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into the grandparent scam and explore how you can protect yourself and your family members from these types of threats.
What are Grandparent Scams?
Grandparent scams (sometimes referred to as “emergency scams”) have recently been growing in volume and sophistication, with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CFAC) reporting $9.2 million was lost as a result of these scams in 2021 alone.
Most attacks follow this pattern:
The scammer will unexpectedly call, email, text or social media message the individual they are targeting, often late at night or early in the morning. This is when the individual is the least alert and will be more susceptible to falling for the attack.
The scammer will typically impersonate the individual’s grandchild or another family member, starting the scam by asking the individual: “grandma, do you know who this is?”, allowing them to validate the identity of the person on the line.
Posing as the family member or grandchild, scammers will present a troubling situation, such as the grandkid has been arrested and needs immediate payment for bail or they’ve been in an accident and need funds to cover hospital fees.
To make their story more believable, the scammer may bring in, what appears to be, an additional person into the scam to impersonate an authority figure, such as a police officer or lawyer.
The scammer will plead that the individual withdraws money from their bank account, sends a wire transfer or they may even send someone impersonating a government official or courier to their home to collect funds.
At the heart of it, grandparent scams are social engineering attacks - a popular tactic used by scammers that manipulates human emotions to carry out a malicious goal.
To make their ploy more believable, scammers will do their homework, using public information online to find targets and get to know personal details. This could be anything from the name of the loved one, their best friend, a location – anything scammers can find easily online can be used to enhance the attack.
The Evolution of Grandparent Scams
Generative AI and the boom of artificial intelligence technology has helped provide scammers with more sophisticated tactics that are easier and cheaper to execute. To create a convincing impersonation, scammers are using voice mimicking tools, replicating the voice of their individual’s loved one.
These tools do not require a large audio sample to be effective. Scammers only need a few sentences to convincingly replicate someone’s voice, which can be exploited from media posted online such as social media videos. The use of voice mimicking tools by scammers has raised concerns around the accessibility of personal data and media online, as well as the need for safeguards to be put in place to prevent use from scammers.
How You Can Stay Protected
While attacks are becoming more sophisticated and difficult to detect, there are steps you can take today to keep you and your family protected:
Keep Your Guard Up. Never answer unexpected texts, social media messages, phone calls or emails, especially from unknown numbers or senders you do not recognize. Always be mindful of urgent calls or messages and hang up immediately if the request doesn’t feel right.
Verify the Caller or Sender. You can verify the caller or sender by asking specific questions that only they would know. Ask for details about the situation as the scammer may not be able to answer these questions.
When in doubt, reach out! Contact the grandchild or another family member through a different method of communication than was originally used to confirm that there is a real emergency. We recommend that families decide upon a unique code word to confirm that an emergency is real and not a cleverly constructed scam.
Frequently review your online privacy. Remember to update and frequently review your privacy settings for online platforms such as social media. Restrict your account to close friends and family so only people you know can access your posts and online photos. Get Cyber Safe provides an abundance of resources and recommendations for Canadians to help you and your family stay protected online.
Always report suspicious activity. You can report any suspicious calls or texts to relevant government agencies or national anti-fraud centers. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission makes it easy to report scams. In Canada, if you’ve fallen for cybercrime, contact your local police or file a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Remember to pay attention to your emotions and trust your instincts. If you are unsure about a situation, question and verify. Through small steps and proactive measures, you can continue to stay cyber safe!