Telephone Grandparents Scam involving Western Union
Complaint 31225 Details

At 11a.m. on Wednesday, October 26th, I, Florence Mercer an 83 year old woman living alone, received a call on my home telephone from a young man who said he was my grandson, Ryan Arvin. He said he was in Lima, Peru at a friends wedding and that he was in an accident with a rental car. The rental car representative, Roberto, got on the phone and told me to send $6,000.00 for the damages via Western Union in order for my grandson to get on the airplane back to his college in New York. He also informed me the cost for sending the money would be $300.00.

I went to the bank and withdrew cash from my CHASE credit card in the amount of $5,000 and the remaining balance from my savings account in the amount of $1400.00. I then went to the Western Union Office at the Walbaum's in Southampton, New York and sent $6,000 via Western Union and paid the $301.00 fee.

I then returned home to receive a second phone call to confirm the money had been received in Peru. At that time the callers requested an additional $5,000.00 and stated the damages were more extensive then originally estimated. I had no addtional money so at that time I called my daughter in California and she suspected a scam.

I have filed a police report and intend to publish my story as widely as possible. I subsequently found out that there are alerts on the Western Union web site. Despite this the transaction was never questioned. I intend to report this scam perpetrated on me to:
Western Union
Chase
AARP
New York State Attorney General
I have already filed a police report.

Please let me know if you would like additional details.