My dad got a call from a young man claiming to be his grandson by name.  He said he was "Tommy" which was correct but called him gandpa, which is not what "Tommy" calls him, so he knew if was fake.  He said he had a sore throat so he couldnt talk very well but that he was in jail and wanted him to call this attorney "Mr. Mason".  

My dad contacted me to make sure "Tommy" was okay and while he was doing that "Mr. Mason" called.  My dad asked waht he wanted and he said to get "Tommy out of jail".  My dad said he'd be right down to the courthouse and hung up.

Very scary that they knew the correct name for my son.  My dad must have given them enough hope that the "attorney" called back.

I work for a place that works with money gram. Just had an elderly lady in claiming her grand-daughter need to be bailed out of jail in Miami Florida. The "attorney" told her to send them $1900.00 to get her out if jail. Needless to say I talked her out of this after googling the phone number and finding similar scams have been used. The "attornys" name was Mark Claude.

He was right, this is known as a "grandparent scam", there's other variations of these usually a surprise visit from some make you guess relative who has a accident or some such thing on the call back and conveniently needs money!

See:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/fina ... scams_5608.html
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts

Report is to:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
http://www.fbi.gov/
http://www.nw3c.org/
and your local authorities.

My Dad just got a call from someone pretending to be my son (who my dad said was totally convincing btw, especially since he said he had a bad cold) who said he was in Niagara Falls for a friends wedding, but had a cold, so was taking Niquil and got pulled over and arrested for a DUI. He asked "Please don't tell Mom or Dad, I don't want them mad at me", then gave him the name of a lawyer that was supposedly assigned to him. My dad immediately called the lawyer who he said was very nice. Told my dad that he played golf with the Judge and that Christian had been very respectful and was "Obviously a good kid" and that he thought he could get him off" and that they would only have to pay a small fine and get him on the first flight out of Ontario, Canada, but it should be "No problem". At this point my dad is thinking something is fishy and says he's going to have to figure out how to get the money. The "Lawyer" says he can take either CC or Money Order and tells him where to send it to his secretary. As soon as he hangs up my dad calls me (of course I'm taking a nap after last nights flight and don't wake up) then he calls my ex and my daughter. Anyway, finds out that Christian is safe and sound and still in California, but not before the lawyer calls him back again to check on how he's doing with getting that money order.
I just looked up the phone number for that supposed "lawyer"......looks like it's been used for this scam before! My dad ended up calling the FBI to report it and they said that Grandparents are the #1 scam targets for criminals. Unbelievable and incredibly sad.

Got same call about granddaughter in jail need $900.00 and etc.   All turned out well for me and reported the Joyce Hoffman and Mr. Hoffman her husband to police in my city, Canadian fraud unit and Money Gram.

Their contacts were wire money to Albert Mitchell Charles/Albert C Mitchell and Junie Petars Elsie.

438-992-6058 is the number they used

Yes you should file in an Exploitation of Vulnerable Adult report or at the very least Theft By Swindle more than likely the initial and local agency won't be able to investigate and provide any charging results on an actual suspect because they are out of the country but get the report on file and look at some of these resources to further your reporting:
IF YOUR KEYS WERE TAKEN:
Change or re-key whichever locks need to be changed for your protection.

IF YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD WAS TAKEN:
Call the Social Security Administration FRAUD HOTLINE to notify them of the loss and get information on how to get a duplicate card.

S.S.A. Fraud Hotline    1 - 800 - 269 - 0271    www.ssa.gov

IF YOUR DRIVER=S LICENSE WAS TAKEN:
Apply for a new License and Aflag@ your license as stolen at the DMV.-(Identity Theft) Driver Evaluation       (651) 296 - 2025       www.dvs.dps.state.mn.us/dlservices/dl.htm

IF NEW CHECKS OR CARDS HAVE BEEN MAILED TO A DIFFERENT ADDRESS:
Call the U.S. Postal Inspectors about mail being falsely forwarded.

U.S.P.S. Inspection Service 1 - 800 - 372 - 8347   www.framed.usps.com/postalinspectors

Local Postal Inspector (651) 293 - 3200     Fax    (651) 293 ? 3384

*IF YOUR CHECKS OR CREDIT CARDS WERE TAKEN:
Notify your bank if you have not already done so, and then call the three credit reporting bureaus to report the loss and ask them to put a FRAUD ALERT on your account so NO NEW CREDIT will be issued without contacting you.

Experian        1 - 888 - 397 - 3742        www.experian.com
Trans Union                 1 - 800 - 680 - 7289        www.tuc.com
Equifax        1 - 800 - 525 - 6285        www.equifax.com

*IF YOUR STOLEN CHECKS OR CARDS HAVE BEEN USED:
    -Contact the banks and/or businesses that accepted your checks or cards to notify them of the fraud and                                                   offer to sign any affidavits of forgery as needed. Encourage the banks and businesses to pursue charges against any suspects identified.

                                                    (2)    

-It is important to note that once you make a police report and fill out any required paperwork with your bank or credit card co. (i.e.  affidavit of forgery), YOU ARE NOT considered the victim of any unauthorized use of your checks or credit cards.   Each time your check or credit card is fraudulently used, it is considered a separate crime.  The banks or businesses that accept the checks or credit cards are considered the actual victims of those crimes and must make the appropriate reports with their local police department.  

 *IF SOMEONE HAS STOLEN YOUR IDENTITY TO GET NEW CREDIT:
Call the police department and make an Identity Theft report. In Minnesota, Identity Theft becomes a crime only when any victim (person or business) suffers a monetary loss. Also call the Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Hotline to notify them and get advice on how to proceed.

FTC ID Theft Hotline           1 - 877 - 438 - 4338    www.consumer.gov/idtheft

To report fraud to the FTC other than ID Theft,  call:     1 - 877 - 382 ? 4357
    
OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES FOR ADVICE AND INFORMATION:
Federal Bureau of Investigation        www.fbi.gov
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse            www.privacyrights.org
PRC - Identity Theft Resources        www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm
Internet Fraud Complaint Center        www.ifccfbi.gov
NWCCC Website                www.nw3c.org
W3C Web Security                www.w3.org/Security
Fraud Defense Network            www.frauddefense.com
SCAMWATCH                www.scamwatch.com

To delete your id from the Internet - a form is at   www.lexis-nexis.com/lncc/about/removal.html

OTHER PHONE RESOURCES FOR ADVICE AND INFORMATION
Federal Government Information Center (for agency phone numbers) 1 - 800 - 688 - 9889

What you can do to protect yourself and your family from being victimized again.
?    Don=t put your D.L. # on your checks. This makes it easy to get a false ID made.  
?    Keep all credit card receipts safe. Many criminals use numbers off receipts to defraud.
?    Shred credit card offers you get in the mail. Thieves steal mail and trash to get these.
?    NEVER give your card # out to someone calling you-Make charges only when you call, and remember, Card Fraud Investigators will never call and ask for your # and expiration date.

THE GOOD NEWS:    You are NOT responsible for monetary losses. The banks and credit card companies must refund your money losses (if any), although they may hold your money while they are conducting an investigation in the case. Some can charge you up to $50 per account, but most do not.  
  Make sure you report to the Federal Trade Commission website at www.ftc.gov and concentrate looking under the above section call "Other Resources for Advice and Information";  Internet crime Complaint Center  www.ifccfbi.gov  is also very important to report this activity.

my 90 yr old grandfather received a phone call from ms. hoffman saying i was in jail with a DUI because i got in a car accident and took cough medicine, they needed $900 to get me out of jail. I called this woman back directly and she continued to hang up on me. Should i file a police report?!!???!!

I have received a call from a purported granddaughter, and Ms. Hoffman purporting to be her lawyer, asking for bail money.  I Said no.

Elder phone abuse asking for money to be wired to a grand-daughter in trouble