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A voice said, "Grandma, it's me."
Roberts, 76, didn't recognize the voice, and the agitated caller never gave his name, but he did lay down a whopper of a story.
A suddenly distressed Roberts listened to the mysterious caller explain he had been arrested in Canada after going to a rock concert with a friend.
The caller continued his desperate tale, explaining he'd been in an accident and "charged with DUI."
"I was really shook," Roberts said. "My mind was racing. He said the only way to get back across the border was for me to send him a $2,000 moneygram."
Roberts stalled for time and didn't wire money to Montreal. Convinced it was a scam, she told the caller to call back while she arranged the money transfer. Meanwhile she called Warwick police when her husband returned home.
Police suggested Mr. Roberts answer the next call.
At about 2 p.m. Friday, the caller dialed again, but he immediately hung up when he heard a male voice answer. The caller dialed again. This time he told Mr. Roberts he was embarrassed and wanted only his grandmother to know about the incident. The caller hung up when informed the call was being monitored by police.Mrs. Roberts figured the phone scammers act when a woman answers, taking a chance that she is a grandmother they can exploit. She decided to share her story to warn others of such scams.
"There are people my age who have mental problems who would just wire the money without thinking," she said.
Digital technology has created lightning-fast global communications. Not surprisingly, it also has inspired a new generation of scam artists.
The stories have become so commonplace that Web sites, such as www.ripoffreport.com and www.crimes-of-persuasion.com, offer daily scam stories.
The sites describe hundreds of modern examples of bank fraud, pyramid schemes, Internet fraud, chain letters, modeling agency and Nigerian scams, computer fraud and telemarketing fraud.
In May, a Lancaster woman reported she lost $7,000 in a shopping-incentive program that was a scam. She told Manheim Township police that a company in Ontario sent her two checks from a "secret shopper" program.
An 81-year-old Lititz woman was scammed out of more than $165,000 in February by someone posing as a representative of the Publishers Clearing House. She wired the money to accounts in Israel and Cyprus after a man called her to tell her she had won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes but had to pay taxes on the winnings before she received the money.
Just last week Barb and James Prudhomme of New Holland got a letter from a company called Mutual F.S. Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisc. The letter informed the Prudhommes they had won $250,000 in the "Shopper Sweepstakes."
(70) (55) (46) (41) (29) (28) (21) (19) (17) (13) (12) (6) (5) (4) (3) (3) (2) (2)"The funny thing is we never entered the Shopper's Sweepstakes," said Mrs. Prudhomme.
Included in the envelope was a check made out to Mr. Prudhomme for $4,890. The letter instructed the "winner" to call a number — determined to be near Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada.
When he called, Mr. Prudhomme was told a portion of the money was to pay the taxes on a jackpot. He was told to cash the check at his bank and call back to receive instructions to wire back $2,985 to cover the taxes owed on the winnings.
"You know that $2,985 is not going to cover the tax on $250,000; at least not in this country," Mrs. Prudhomme said.
The prudent Prudhommes took the check to Hometown Bank in New Holland. The bank confirmed that the check was a scam and sent it to its fraud department.
In recent weeks, customers of Bank of Lancaster County, which has been acquired by PNC Bank, have been target by scammers seeking personal banking records. Susquehanna Bank also warned of fraudulent e-mails and text messages seeking to trick customers into divulging account information.
Local banks have formed the Lancaster County Financial Security Officers Association to keep customers informed and protected. Members include Community Banks, Ephrata National Bank, Fulton Bank, HomeTowne Heritage Bank, Northwest Savings Bank, Province Bank, Sovereign Bank, Susquehanna Bancshares, Union National Community Bank, Wachovia and Wheatland Federal Credit Union.
Roberts says she owns a computer and surfs the Internet but never does "any kind of business on it."
"We're in a pretty vulnerable position today with all of the technology that's out there," she said.
E-mail: pburns@lnpnews.com
