The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office is warning residents to watch out for the “grandparents scam,” where people are manipulated into giving money based on fear that their grandchildren have been arrested.

The DA’s Office said Thursday that someone called a local senior citizen and told her that her granddaughter was in a car crash that resulted in a pregnant woman being hospitalized.   The resident thought she heard her granddaughter’s voice on the phone and believed the call was legitimate.    The call was taken over by a man who said the granddaughter had been arrested and a judge had issued a gag order on the case.   The caller then told the resident to withdraw $20,000 from the bank to get her granddaughter out of jail.   The caller also told the resident to inform the bank that the withdrawal was for home repairs, to avoid violating the gag order.

The resident went to the bank and the teller suspected that it was a scam, so the transaction was denied. After the resident spoke to her family, she realized the granddaughter was not in jail and it was a scam.   She reported that the scammers called from a number that was traced to an Illinois area code.

The DA’s Office said scammers will often use court terms such as “gag order” to make the call appear to be legitimate.  A judge will not issue a gag order after an arrest.  The DA’s Consumer Protection Division said scammers will try to put pressure on you to make rash decisions based on fear.  You should resist the pressure to act quickly because once you wire money, it is very difficult to recover. Call a trusted relative or friend to let them know what is going on and check to see if the call was legitimate. Never wire money or transfer money into cryptocurrency like Bitcoin based only on a telephone call.  Also, the government does not accept cryptocurrency or gift cards as a form of payment

Another warning sign is is when the caller tells you that you cannot say anything to anyone or should lie if asked why you are getting large sums of money from the bank.                 If you believe you are a victim of a scam, do not try to contact your scammer again, but instead report it to law enforcement as soon as possible.

For more information on the “Grandparent Scam” visit the website https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/the-grandparent-scam