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Waggle BearsHad a call from my sister this morning about 8:30 asking if Joseph is at home and if he's okay. She had a call from someone claiming to be Joseph calling from Canada saying he was in trouble and needed money. My sister is 16 years older than I am and she enjoys staying up late and sleeping in til about 9 am so she sounded as though she'd just been awakened by the call. She asked why he called her instead of his parents and the guy hung up.
She lives in Fresno and I can't imagine how anyone would know she is his aunt. I can't believe any of his friends would try this.
Wow! I wonder if he just picked the name Joseph knowing it is a common name? Glad she didn't fall for it!
Past Time BearsOooh . . . creepy! Reminds me of a call I got waaaaay back in the late 1960s. I had been the bridal attendant in a close friend's wedding and, of course, it was written up in the paper (Dallas Morning News). Early on Monday am after the wedding on Saturday, I got a call from a man saying he had kidnapped my friend and her new husband and had them tied up. He asked what I was wearing and said he was close enough to see my house and wanted me to come outside. I was a young, naive wife and had 2 small daughters, so got rather concerned and started questioning him. His answers just got more and more bizarre until he finally hung up. I called my friend's mother-in-law to ask if she had heard from the couple . . . she had and told me where they were on their honeymoon, so I relaxed a little, but did call my husband at work to tell him about the call. Neither of us having ever dealt with a crank call before, he came home immediately and called the police. They said it happened all the time to people whose names have been published in the newspaper and not to worry it about unless the person called again. :redface: :redface: :redface: Talk about being embarrassed . . . :doh: :doh: :doh:
Marlys, I'm glad your sister didn't fall for the scam. 
Canna Bear PaintYes, definitely a scam. There have been all sorts of those phone scams around my area recently, the local news does try to keep people aware. One that is good at suckering the elderly is for them to call and say "Grandma?" or "Grandpa?", and will not identify themselves beyond "Guess who this is?" or "Don't you know my voice?". They wait for the person they're calling to identify them. Grandpa might say "Bobby, is that you?" Then they have a name to work with. "Sure, it's Bobby, and I'm in trouble! I need money at so-and-so..."
Grrrr. Unfortunately, far too many people fall for these!
Kelly
Waggle BearsYes, obviously a scam, but my sisters were teenagers when I was born and even many of my friends didn't know I even had sisters and none of Joseph's would know. Joseph is a common name, but we always call him Joseph though his friends call him Joe
That would be scary, Sue Ann. Maybe today we'd think it might be a scam, but probably not in the '60s. I would have been shaken, too.
TeenytinyteddybearsThe same sort of thing happened here, turns out the common denominator was a forum I belong to of Expats living here. One of the members got a mail from "another member" saying he was stuck in some country and needed money to return. Firstly the money was not even remotely the right amount. Secondly the two members had had coffee two days before. My personal theory is that someone is going into forums etc to find people who know each other. Funny thing with the internet. I didnt realise I had such a big family, pity they dying like flies. Just about every day I get a message about some "relative" that died and left me millions, and if I just send $100 they will process the papers.
I have been looking for work that I can do online. One of the sites was real. You wrote web content and got paid per assignment. I have done a few. Some of the others were setting up email addresses and sending spam. ( I left in a hurry) They even gave you ways of finding people. So yes it is out there.
Bubble Up Bears!My husband is a police detective and this scam was really popular about 2 years ago in the area where he works. You wouldn't believe how many reports he took from people who fell for it. Terrible!! But this does concern me how they were able to get the name right? Very strange. I'm going to ask Todd when he gets home from work about it and see if it's starting up again and about the name being right. Almost makes you think it had to be someone who knew. But to call an Aunt? Even more wierd!
Tindle BearsYUP! that just happened to grandma last week, the caller said "hey mom?" when she answered the phone.
and then she responded with the name of my uncle (of course giving him an "in")
She nearly wired 3000 bucks to canada for this guy claiming to be my uncle ( Who happens to live a country mile away from grandma)
She's not as bright as she used to be, She called my mom to see what she thought LOL
Mom of course said HANG UP THE PHONE MOM! LOL
