Man from Sedgwick County almost scammed out of $14K in ‘grandparent scam’

SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — The Consumer Protection Division (CPD) is warning of a “grandparent scam” in Sedgwick County.

According to the Office of the District Attorney (DA), they received a report Monday that a man received two calls attempting to scam him out of $14,000.

“The first caller pretended to be his grandson, who said he had just been in a wreck and was being threatened with arrest for looking at his cell phone while driving,” the DA says. “The ‘grandson’ said he was also sick and on his way to the doctor. This was apparently to explain why his voice was not recognized.”

“A second caller called back shortly after the first call ended and pretended to be an
attorney representing the grandson who stated a judge had approved a gag order on
the case and set a $14,000 cash bond,” says the DA. “The name the ‘lawyer’ provided was not a
lawyer licensed to practice law in Kansas. The name of the judge did not match any
judge in Sedgwick County.”

The DA says both calls came from the same number with the area code 236 out of British Columbia, Canada.

According to the DA, the man did not give out any personal information and alerted the Office of the District Attorney.

“Scams like this attempt to prey on your fear and concern for family and seek to get you to act rashly without reflection,” says the DA. “Once a scammer has your money, it is very difficult to get it back.”

The DA wants to remind the public not to answer calls from numbers they do not recognize, to hang up if a call seems suspicious, and to never give out personal information, such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers and any other identifying information.

For more information on the “grandparent scam,” click here.