With the summer travel season comes a lot more opportunities for scammers to get your money.  One of the more popular scams that heats up every summer is often referred to as the ‘grandparent scam’ because it targets seniors…but it can happen to anyone.  This is when a senior gets a call from someone impersonating their adult grandchild in order to hit them up for money. Typically the ‘child’ says they’re traveling and they’re in trouble and they need grandma or grandpa to wire money to either bail them out of jail or help them because they’ve lost their wallet in a foreign country (or something similar).

Scammers can usually net anywhere between $3,000 and $4,000. There’s even a “reload” on this one. If the scamster gets money, they’ll have another person call up impersonating a police officer and ask for additional funds in order for their grandchild to be released. They claim there are extra charges for property damage. Once the money is taken, you’ll never see it again. This scam has gotten even worse since people are able to get a lot more believable information from your social media accounts.

SOLUTION: Never give out personal info over the phone or send money to unknown sources through a wire service.