Attorney General Andy Beshear issued a Scam Alert warning Kentuckians to be wary of the “grandparent scam.”
The scam involves a con artist calling a grandparent and identifying themselves as their grandchild who is in some type of trouble and needs financial help, such as money to pay bail, legal fees, medical bills or rent.
The con artist often requests the funds be transmitted in the form of gift cards, like iTunes cards, prepaid credit cards and other reloadable cards that are easy to purchase at retail stores and difficult to track or recover.
Beshear said this is a common telephone scam that has resurfaced in Kentucky. He urges all Kentuckians to hang up on any caller seeking payment via gift cards because the call is more than likely a scam.
Beshear recommends the following tips to help detect and avoid the grandparent scam:
Be cautious of all unexpected phone calls asking you to quickly pay a bail bond or bills.
Call the grandchild, the con artist is claiming to be, at a known phone number to verify.
Ask the caller questions that would be difficult for an impostor to answer correctly.
Beshear asked anyone with information on the grandparent scam to report it to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection hotline at 888-432-9257.
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