Local law enforcement reports increase in “Grandparents Scam”

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office is warning of an increased scam targeting grandparents.

The “Grandparents Scam” has been around for years but the local Dispatch Center received an increase in reports yesterday.

These particular types of scammers target older populations and impersonate their grandchildren, claiming to have been involved in some type of accident or need to post bail to avoid arrest.

With enough convincing and conversation, the scammers gain enough trust to have the victims transfer money or provide prepaid cards.

If you receive a call like this, have them confirm their identity to you. Do not provide personal information about yourself or your family members.

Scammers can retrieve phone numbers and family member names through social media, so ensure that these accounts have limited publicly accessible information.


Larissa Donovan is the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016. She covers all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


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