Post Falls Family Loses $3,000 in Common Phone Scam - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Crooks May Have Used Facebook As Tool To Help Scam Post Falls Family

POST FALLS, Idaho - Last week a Post Falls family fell victim to a phone scam that has been around for years and police say it is becoming more popular in this area.

The family didn't want to be identified but they say their son, who is serving the military in Iraq, had his identity stolen and the scammers called his grandmother living in Arizona.

The scammer, claiming to be her grandson, told her he had been involved in a car accident and wrecked the rental car with no insurance.

He needed $3,000 immediately or the police were going to put him in jail. The grandmother panicked and called her daughter-in-law. The family ignored many possible red flags because they were so concerned for their loved one's well-being that they ended up wiring the scammer the money.

When they learned the caller wasn't really their son they were mad and embarrassed. They wondered how these scammers were able to get so much information about their son and worried about the impact this might have on his 74-year-old grandmother who was targeted.

"I mean this really frightened her, and it continues to frighten her because the idea that somebody has more information than we normally think people may have about us is frightening to her," said the soldiers mother.

Police continue to investigate this crime. They don't want to speculate too much, but police say the scammers could have possibly taken some personal information from the soldier's public Facebook page or other forms of social media. They want to take this opportunity to remind everyone to be careful what is put out on the Internet.