Area Woman Scammed Out of $1,000 by Caller Posing as Grandson

Police in Fremont are reminding residents to be wary of callers demanding money after a woman was scammed out of $1,000 Thursday by a caller claiming to be her grandson.

Officers responded to a home on the 3100 block of Country Drive at about 12:55 p.m. to investigate the scam. The victim told police that she received a phone call that morning by a man who she believed was her grandson.

According to the Fremont Police Department, the suspect told the woman that he was in a car accident and needed $1,000 to repair the vehicle. He then advised her to go to Rite Aid, purchase Green Dot MoneyPak prepaid cards and add funds to the accounts. MoneyPak cards allow people to load prepaid cards, add money to PayPal accounts and make payments to companies or individuals without using a bank account.

The victim complied with the caller’s request and gave him the pin numbers to the cards. The victim realized she’d fallen victim to a scam when her real grandson called a little while later, police said.

The money from both cards were transferred to another card, police said. Officers are following up with the case.

Many recent scams in Fremont have involved suspects requesting victims to pay them using Green Dot prepaid cards.

In September, Fremont police issued a warning regarding a wave of scams targeting South Asian Indians. Callers claimed to be collecting money for the IRS and demanded victims pay thousands of dollars immediately using MoneyPak cards or risk being deported. Similar scams were reported in June and July when suspects claiming to be from PG&E targeted local residents and businesses, including Country Way in Fremont.

“Please be very careful and alert your neighbors of phone scams such as this,” Fremont police said.

Anyone with information about this or any other crime in Fremont is asked to contact the Fremont Police Department at 510-790-6900 or by submitting a tip online at www.fremontpolice.org/tip.