A Fun True Story about A Con Game Gone Wrong...

[MineralMan]

The Short Con Runs Long

Well, I just made my weekly phone call to my parents, who are 85 years old, and still kicking the crap out of people 20 years their junior. My father said he had a great story for me. He was right, so I'm going to relay it along here:

About the middle of last week, he got a phone call. When he picked up, noticing the lack of Caller I.D. information, he said hello. The guy on the other end said, in a dejected voice, "Hi, Grandpa." Now, my father has one grandson, so he responded in a friendly way, even though he didn't recognize the man's voice.

"I really need your help, Grandpa. I came up to Quebec for a concert, and got into a car accident with the rental car. Now, I'm in jail, the car's wrecked, and I don't know what to do," was the next line.

My father, always quick on the comeback, said, "That's terrible. I'm really sorry to hear that. How can I help.?"

The guy answered, "Well, I need $3500 to get out of jail and fix the rental car so I can get home. I still have my airline ticket, so that's not a problem."

My Dad: "That's a lot of money. Things are pretty tight here, you know"

The Caller: "I don't know who else to call. I really need your help. Isn't there some way? I can pay you back...a little bit a month."

My Dad: "Well, I suppose I could get a cash advance on one of my credit cards..."

The Caller: "That'd be great. Could you talk to the booking officer here. He can tell you how to send it."

"Booking Officer": "I'm looking through the paper work...what's your grandson's full name, please?"

My Dad, recognizing the extension of the con by using another person, tells the new guy his grandson's name. The counter-con is on.

Booking Officer: OK, if you take the money to a local Walmart, you can send it by Western Union to your Grandson here in Quebec. We'll take care of getting him to a place he can get it."

My Dad: "OK, that'll work. But I'll have to do it in the morning, since I need to go to the bank, and they're closed. The nearest Walmart is about half an hour away, so can you call me again tomorrow, around Noon, California time, and I'll confirm that I've sent it and give you the transaction number."

Booking Officer: "That'll be fine, sir. We'll call you then."

So that was the initial contact. The next day, at Noon on the dot, the phone rings. My Dad tells his "grandson" Mike that he didn't realize how little available he had on his credit card, and that he couldn't get $3500 at the bank, so he wasn't able to send it. He said that he could, maybe, get $2000, but he didn't do it because he wanted to touch base first.

Naturally, his "grandson" was not pleased by this. He allowed as how $2000 would help and, if that was all my Dad could get, then he'd have to do what he could with it. My Dad agreed, but told the guy that he had a doctor's appointment and couldn't get to the bank before it closed, so he'd have to do it the next day, and could the "grandson" call him again the next day around Noon, so he could confirm that he sent the money and give him the number for the Western Union transaction.

More disappointment from the grandson, of course, but needs must, so he agreed.

Well, the next day, which was Friday, the call came at Noon. My Dad, hoping to enjoy more of this, told "grandson" that he'd been thinking and didn't want to only give partial help to his only "grandson," and that he'd arranged with the bank to borrow $3500 on his car, which he'd just paid off. The money would be available on Monday, he told the "grandson." If the "grandson" would call on Monday, at noon, he'd give him the transaction number and everything would be OK.

Well, the agreement from "Mike" was a little slower in coming, but he guessed it would all work out. The food in the "jail" wasn't too bad, and it would be better to have the whole amount, he reckoned, so everything could be taken care of.

My Dad ended the conversation by asking "Mike" if he'd called his father yet about this. He said that he knew that "Mike" and "Mike's father" didn't get along well, and hadn't talked for a couple of years, but it might help if he talked to him.

"No, no! My father can't know about this. No way. Let's just keep it between us, Grandpa. I'll call on Monday at Noon."

Well, tomorrow's Monday. My Dad talked to the real Mike's real father, and enlisted his support. On Monday, when "Mike" calls, my Dad is going to tell "Mike" that he told his father what was going on and that his father wanted to make things right between them. Then he's going to hand the phone to the real Mike's father.

Where will it go from here? They've already talked with the Chief of Police in town, who both know very well. He doesn't think there's much he can do, but he thinks the counter-con is great fun, and contacted a reporter from the local paper, who's going to write this whole thing up as a teaching tool about this scam.

They figure that "Mike's" going to know the game is up, once his "father" is on the line, and so the con will end. But they're sure enjoying it. My father, who taught me how to prank effectively, is pulling one of his best ones with this con man. I'm proud to be his son, and it'll make a great story for future family gatherings.

The moral of the story: You can't con a prankster. You'll never win, and it amuses the prankster.

[AngryAmish]

1. smile -- good on them

[blondeatlast]

2. Props to Pa Mineral Man. Please let us know how this continues! nt

[MineralMan]

3. Will do.

[woo me with science]

4. I love your dad. nt

[MineralMan]

8. Yah, me too!

Sharp as the needle on a flu shot syringe, he is.

[hootinholler]

5. Can they trace the call?

Get the number?

I'd love to hear about a bust like this.

-Hoot

[MineralMan]

9. Nope. Probably a disposable cell phone.

The cops told my Dad that they have dozens of these scams on file, and that the resources just weren't there to run them down effectively.

[hootinholler]

11. Then set up a fake transfer and watch for who picks it up.

Instruct the moneygram people to call the cops when it is asked for. I bet MoneyGram would help out.

-Hoot

[sui generis]

68. they will actually do that -

I got a mugu Nigerian scammer in 2002 - it was glorious. They nailed him and his accomplices in J'Burg. Even more glorious was the aftermath of death threats, teeth nashing, sangoma curses, and other idiotic and pathetic non-starters indicating how deeply I'd pissed these people off.

Alas I've let DU take up my masturbatory free minutes.

[Stephanie]

15. A call to the Quebec cops might be fun nt

[MineralMan]

18. Odds are they're nowhere near Quebec.

Western Union payments can be picked up anywhere. Since there won't be one, anyhow, these turds aren't going to get caught.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Good for your dad. These people are despicable.

Maybe the sheriff can contact the authorities at the other end and they can be there when his 'grandson' shows up to get his money?

[MineralMan]

14. Could be, I guess, but the local police didn't think so.

It's an international deal...maybe, and the call could have come from anywhere. A Western Union transfer can be picked up at any Western Union outlet. You just have to know who's sending the money, and show some I.D. and provide the transaction number. So the scammers are most likely nowhere near Quebec.

The fun is in conning the con man. That's always a treat.

[brewens]

21. Reminds me of the time this kid at work put one of those exploding cigarette loads

in a guy cigarette. It goes off and the guy is really quick and drops the cigarette and puts his hand over his eye. Starts yelling that he burnt his eye and goes into the office still holding his hand over it.
Quick planning and a phone call to a buddy of mine that is a surgical nurse and we're on our way to the hospital. We get there and a couple of nurses are in on the gag and bandage up half of his head
Then we go back to work and make a big show of the wounded worker going back into the office. By then this kid is sure he's gonna be fired and lucky if we don't call the cops and get him arrested. Finally he get called into the office and we see him coming like "a dead man a walkin'"!
As soon as he comes in and stands there for a second, waiting for the boss to come in, his victim pulls off the bandages and everybody starts rolling with laughter!
Definitely the best counter gag I was ever in on.

[MineralMan]

24. That's a really good one, too!

[Robb]

7. Brilliant.

I can only hope "Mike's dad" will get him to go along further. :rofl:

[MineralMan]

10. He's going to try to extend this further, but I suspect the

game will be over on Monday. There's just so far you can stretch it. But...there's still hope. Maybe "Mike" is stupid enough to be sucked further in. We shall see.

[Robb]

12. Crime makes you stupid.

Greed doesn't help, either. :toast:

[MineralMan]

20. And that's why con games work...greed.

[Stephanie]

17. Your Dad might enjoy this site >

http://quatloos.com/

[MineralMan]

19. I'll pass it along to him, thanks!

[monmouth]

13. I absolutely love this and Olbermann would do a wonderful segment on it...n/t

[MineralMan]

16. Too common a scam, I think, and my Dad isn't much for

publicity. The local paper's story will be more than enough for him, and he may insist they keep his name out of the story. The fun's personal.

[monmouth]

29. That sounds like the intelligent and mature way to go. Sometimes I'm not...LOL...n/t

[AuntPatsy]

22. Great story I was unaware that they were still running that scam, k & r for those unaware

[MineralMan]

25. Apparently, it's a very popular scam, and one that works

pretty often on elderly people. Very sad, and worth reminding people about it. That's why I wrote the story here.

[Locrian]

23. bookmarking

so I can come back Monday and see what happens!!!

[MineralMan]

26. Cool! I'll pass along what happens next.

[SidDithers]

27. Great story...

and good for your dad :)

If he wants to see how the professional pranksters work, send him to www.419eater.com , particularly the letters section:
http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm

These guys bait the Nigerian scammers, and hilarity ensues. The goal is usually to see just how far the scammers will go, with photographic evidence, in order to get money from their prospective marks. (Yes, that's scammer eating a loaf of bread, while holding a fish on his head. He thinks it'll get him money from the ficticious Church of the Loaves and Fishes.)



Sid

[votingupstart]

28. nice... i would like to hear more.. just for laughs n/t

[Texasgal]

30. hmmm...old scam

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/distress/family.asp

[MineralMan]

38. It is an old scam, and it's still in wide use.

That's because it often works on elderly people who don't always keep in touch with grandchildren on a regular basis. When an appeal appears they believe the person on the phone and want to help.

It's the worst kind of scam. It's not dissimilar to the donation scams run by televangelists, who regularly bilk elderly people who aren't completely competent to donate large sums for the "ministry."

Elderly people are often targets for con men. They're ripe for the picking.

Except for my Dad, who is sharper than any con man.

[Tunkamerica]

31. Is this real ? The con is straight from "Criminal" with John C. Reilly

The only difference was he was waiting for the tow truck so he would send his friend in to pick up the money so the mark wouldn't realize he wasn't her grandson.

I wonder if this person got the idea from the movie or if that's just an old con.

[Warpy]

33. It's an old con and still a common one

but usually it's a sibling with a really bad cell phone connection and a wrecked car. The best ones are from best friends overseas, say in the UK.

I dislike this one intensely because it plays on the best part of us, not greed like the usual con does.

[MineralMan]

35. This con is really, really common. It's still in wide use,

and many people fall for it. As the police chief in my parent's home town said, they have dozens of complaints about this scam in their files. It's real, and elderly people are the target. They just picked the wrong elderly man in my father. He's as sharp at 85 as he was at 30.

[Warpy]

32. I love it

My parents were also known to have fucked with the heads of scammers from time to time and the trait seems to have passed to me.

I'll never forget the look on my dad's face the night I played "make the phone perv hang up first."

I have a sneaking suspicion either they won't call on Monday or Monday will be it. The last thing this particular scam wants is complications and involving more people gets complicated.

Do keep us posted, though.

[MineralMan]

36. I expect it to end on Monday. My brother is not quite

as good at stringing people along as my father and I are. I imaging the "Mike" will suss to the fact that he's the victim, not the con man and that will be the end of it. Sadly, they will probably continue to play this on other elderly people who are not as sharp.

[niyad]

34. oh, do keep us posted!!!

[matt819]

37. Thanks for that

I read some time back that there's a website of folks who counter=con the Nigerian e-mail scams, sometimes getting money from the Nigerians. It sure would be fun if there was a way to turn this around in the same way.

Let us all know how it plays out.

[roguevalley]

39. your papa is my new hero, mineralman. hug him for me. I am in awe

[Tutankhamun]

40. Great story!

K&R

[devilgrrl]

41. Who's "Mike"? Did your Dad just make it up?

Can't wait to here the conclusion. :evilgrin:

[MineralMan]

46. That his actual grandson's name.

[bongbong]

42. 419 dot com

On 419eater.com there are great stories of counter-cons that people have done to email con artists.

The best ones have the would-be victims actually conning the con-men to send THEM money, all the way up to several hundred dollars. Maybe you could actually get the con-man to send you some money as "good-faith" money, or as a "wire-fee-payment", or something else.

[The Doctor.]

45. Tried it...

I told a Nigerian scammer that 'my attorney' told me to set up multiple bank accounts with about $9,000 each (for tax evasion purposes), and that he'd need to wire $500 to another account to activate it so I could start making the transfers.

That was the third week of going back and forth with him, but at the first mention of his sending money, he broke off.

Drat!

The OP's dad is good, I do hope they suck up as much of this asshole's time as possible. The way I see it, the more of their time and attention you take, the fewer people are likely to be victimized.

[The Midway Rebel]

43. This type of scammer is the worst criminal to prey upon the kindness of human nature. eom

[The Doctor.]

44. Did (basically) the same thing with a Nigerian scammer.

Strung the guy along for weeks before he figured out I was just messing with him.

Good on your dad, I look forward to hearing about the rest.

[bc3000]

48. yeah, but this guy made a comic book

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177394

[The Doctor.]

56. Way Cool.

Either way, I encourage everyone who comes across these scammers to tie up as much of their time as possible.

[Stuckinthebush]

47. Ha! Your father should get some money from the con

Say something like, "I need you to wire $20 into my account as a good faith gesture so I can be sure I'm not being scammed."

[Celtic Merlin]

49. If I were "Mike's Father", I'd likely pull this on them . . .

I'd tell "Mike" that all was forgiven and that I wanted to speak to the "Booking Officer" so I could get everything straight as to the charges against him, etc. Once that guy was on, I'd get into the details of the charges and the specifics of where "Mike" is being held. Then I'd ask to chat with "Mike" again so I could tell him that I was on my way to Quebec - by plane - where I'd hire a Canadian criminal lawyer I'd already been in touch with by phone and we'd show up to bail him out and fight these charges against my beloved "Mike".

Once you speak the word "lawyer" to a scammer, they get all nervous and shit. Most of the time, they just hang up.

I'm betting that the telephone number on the caller ID can be traced to a specific location and/or specific owner. The police in that city could be notified.

Please, though, update us on how all of this ends!

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[katkat]

51. celtic

They spoof the callerids.

[Celtic Merlin]

64. Damn. Well then, there's only one solution left, katkat:

Get as much very specific information as you can on where the money is to be sent and who is gonna sign for it, etc. Then let the cops in that city know what's going on so that they can arrest the guy when he claims it. And you gotta make the transfer for $32, not $3200 - just to eff with them. After all, a couple of decimal places aren't really THAT important, are they?

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[katkat]

50. Heather from CardServices

We've all gotten calls from Heather at CardServices, right? So I put on my little old lady voice, quavering it a bit and say my husband handles all our financial things, would you please wait while I go get him? Heather agrees and I let the phone sit there ad infinitum. Some days I check back with a he's on his way down the stairs, can you hold just a bit longer to stretch it out.

Of course, this ties up my phone, but it's kind of worth it.

[Soylent Brice]

52. that's AWESOME.

:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:

[JDPriestly]

53. Interesting! I got a call about two weeks ago from a man with

a mature-sounding baritone voice. He said "This is your oldest grandson." I asked him whether he had the wrong number. He repeated "This is your oldest grandson." I told the guy the truth: "You must have the wrong number. I don't have a grandson, but I wish I did."

He laughed. I checked the number with him and he claimed to have dialed one digit wrong. I have wondered who was playing a joke on me.

Can you imagine your grandchild calling and not identifying himself by name but rather just calling himself "your oldest grandson"? Only a very confused person would actually think that the person was their grandchild.

By the way, there is no possibility that I could have a grandchild old enough to have a mature-sounding baritone voice. This must be a scam that is going around like the Nigerian bankers' e-mails. Warn your grandparents. This is no joke. Some poor, confused senior might fall for this.

[yellerpup]

54. Great story from a cool dad.

I was once notified that I had "won" a new Cadillac. All I had to do was call a number and claim it. I knew, of course, that this was BS because I'd never entered a contest, but intrigued to learn what the scam was (and it WAS a slow day), so I called. I had to listen to a half-hour recorded pitch for a water softener machine. When the woman came back on the phone, she said all I had to do to get the car was buy the water softener (about $2,500 US) and the car would, presto, be delivered to my door.

I told her that I'd be delighted to buy the water softener, just toss it in the trunk of that Caddy and when they rang my doorbell I'd have a check ready. I insisted on speaking to her supervisor (super closer-super slime, IMO) who threatened that I might not win the Cadillac if I didn't play it their way. I ground up a lot of time with them that afternoon and frustrated them greatly. Strangely, they never did get back to me about the Caddy or the water softener... I'd prefer a green car, anyway.

Best of everything to your dad and thanks to you for the scam alert.

[bookworm65t]

55. Your story made my day

Glad to see that not eeryone is being taken in. :)

[TuxedoKat]

57. Haha

Good for your dad. Send us a link to the newspaper article when it comes out!

[TlalocW]

58. Here's one I did online

I have a few personal ads on various sites. Every now and then I get an obvious con from a beautiful "woman" - normally in Ghana.

So Miss Ghana supposedly used to live close to me but was back in her home country to take care of her sick mom. I expressed my sympathies, etc. and wishes that I could help. We carried on an email relationship for over a week (I was surprised at the patience of the scammer), each message from her upping the ante considerably - about her feelings, what a great and patient man I am, etc. Eventually, we had declared our mutual love for each other so I sent her an email telling her I couldn't bear not to meet her, and I would catch the next flight to Ghana to see her if she could buy me a plane ticket as money had been tight.

Never heard from her again.

Bitch broke my heart. :)

I admire your grandpa.

TlalocW

[Celtic Merlin]

65. Oh, you poor thing!

Doncha just hate it when they love you and leave you like that?

I wonder if the guy on the other end of that e-mail exchange had any clue that you were effin' with him.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[yellowcanine]

59. Oh man, can't he "wire the money" to a town with a similar name about 200 miles away?

I heard about a counter scam pulled by somebody on a Nigerian scammer. They had the poor guy traveling by bus all over Africa to pick up the money.

[MineralMan]

60. Still no word on today's fun. Maybe I'll hear tonight or tomorrow.

[pengillian101]

61. We'll be waiting!

Your Dad sounds like a great fun guy!

[Vidar]

62. I admire your dad. I'd just become enraged. His humor is a better approach.

[amborin]

63. how do you know they don't have your dad's address? what if

they try to retaliate?

not saying it's not an amusing counter-con, just that who knows where their malice stops

[MineralMan]

66. The con ended with a sputter...

"Mike" didn't call back on Monday. I guess they figured out that they'd been conned and moved on to more fertile pastures. Too bad, but it was still a good story.

[Taitertots]

67. Send them $1

Just to see where they try to pick it up at.


Or. Tell him you got so worried that you flipped out and flew to Quebec. You need to meet with him, but don't remember what he looks like because you haven't seen him since he was young. You brought $10,000 because it got you so worried. You brought enough to fix the car, get another rental, and make sure you have a place to stay.

Or. When he calls say you are at the bank and you are just going to deposit the money directly into his bank account. Oh no, the lady needs your pin number to make the transaction.


I always tell the nigerian bankers that I work for a bank so they should just give me their bank routing information and I'll do everything free of charge at work.