David N. Kirkman
Task Force Alert Chair
Asst Attorney General
Consumer Protection
NC Department of
Justice
P.O. Box 629
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-716-6000

North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services

TO NC SENIOR CONSUMER FRAUD TASK FORCE MEMBERS

******Alert #303******

Assistant Chief Joe Ramey of the Gaston County Police Department shares the following about an attempted grandparent scam in which one of the criminals claimed to be an American Embassy official:

We had a citizen preyed upon by phone scammer pretending to be a grandchild imprisoned in Mexico. There were two persons working the phone with the first person pretending to be the grandchild of the potential victim. A second scammer identified himself as a US Embassy Agent named Paul Hyatt, phone number 001-444-3800. The scammer knew the name of our citizen’s grandchild and presented a story that the grandchild had been arrested for drug trafficking after attending a funeral of a friend in Mexico. The scammers attempted to get the person to pay $2,000 by credit card and the grandchild would be released immediately upon payment. Fortunately no credit info or money was passed to the scammer.

******End of Alert******

Date: November 16, 2012

David N. Kirkman
Task Force Alerts Chair
Assistant Attorney General
Consumer Protection Division
Office of Attorney General Roy Cooper
114 West Edenton Street
9001 Mail Processing Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001
Tel. 919-716-6000

Consumer Fraud / Alerts

Federal Trade Commission Alerts
(Protecting America's Consumers)

Related links

The United States Postal Inspection Service - Watch