A couple of slick con artists scammed a Naperville couple out of $3,200 last week. George, 87, and Betty, 84, told their story to The Sun so that others might learn from their mistake.
The cons convinced the couple that their grandson was in a Canadian jail and needed bail money wired to him.
One wonders, after reading George and Betty's story in Tuesday's Sun, how the con artists knew to target older couples in affluent communities like Naperville and Western Springs. Do they look at Census data and randomly call people until a vulnerable-sounding older person answers? Or do they buy information, including names and phone numbers, from companies that collect such data?
How do these guys know who to target? How many calls do they have to make before they successfully pull a scam?
Have you ever fallen for a scam, via e-mail, phone or other means? Tell us about it.
I get tons of these types of calls. I had my resume out on the internet and would get calls from so called "recruiters" in India asking for my SSN in order to submit my resume for job opportunities at SBC. They said that my resume couldn't be submitted without my entire Social Security Number! They already had my name, address, phone, ask for date of birth, and then want my SSN! Beware of this, job seekers!