5:39 am
We got a call this afternoon about being served with a lawsuit and restraining order. Didn't think much of it until they called both of our parents. Some quick googling and confirmation through a lawyer friend showed the whole thing was a scam but whoever did it obviously has some legitimate information that ties us to our families. I figure we should pull our credit reports but is there anything else we should do? It's a bit spooky for my liking.
6:09 am
Club Member
September 3, 2008
Offline I would make a police report. Just to document the event. If you feel that uncomfortable. Law Enforcement won't be able to do much. It's amazing how easy it is to find information on people. Just don't send them any money. Honestly ties to your parents is not really that hard to find. They could have just looked through the yellow pages and got lucky with last names or something.
It's always a good idea to pull a credit report every year. If they didn't give you any major detailed information about you, they most likely haven't done any fraud. It's more of a scam. How did they ask for money?
Um...what?
6:39 am
July 15, 2005
Offline LE won't take a report. No crime was committed and there are scams like this by the millions. You did the right thing by not falling for it. To be safe, you can put a fraud alert on your social security number if you want. More than likely this was nothing more than a fishing scam. They pulled your name from the Internet and with little effort found your parents contact information.
Here is a link to some information on identity theft. http://www.placer.ca.gov/Depar.....Theft.ashx
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'If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."- Ronald Reagan
3:20 pm
January 27, 2011
Offline About 1-1/2 years ago my parents got caught up in that "grandparents scam". The one where a grandchild calls from jail in a city away from home, needs $5000, and "PLEASE don't tell my parents because they be super upset". Thanks goodness my folks knew our family doesn't operate that way and called me to see if I was aware.
They ran into the same thing from the local PD. There are so many of these scams that LE can't possibly keep up so they don't try. Most, if not all of these scammers, are out of the country.
They, LE, do keep sending out warnings to verify, verify, verify and DON'T send any money.
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If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading -- Lao Tzu
4:01 pm
Rob's right...we asked the Sheriff and they said there was nothing they could/would do at this point. No law has been broken. Just don't give the callers anything. Both my wife and my mom tried to call them back before we talked about it but fortunately neither got through. Apparently scammers only work 9-5. 
I also think Tom's right...make sure your family is aware of how easy it is to pull stuff like this off. If they're worried their first call should be to you. My mother in law and wife were panicked.
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