TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - A Tucson man lost $15,000 dollars in what is known as the "grandparents scam".
It started with a phone call to the man's house nearly two weeks ago. We are hiding this man's identity for his own privacy, but for the sake of this story we will call him "William". On the other end of the phone line was someone claiming to be his grandson.
"He was crying like a baby almost," said William.
The grandson said he was arrested on drug charges in Connecticut. A different man claiming to be a sergeant with the local police department told William he thought the grandson was probably innocent.
William thought this really was his grandson in trouble.
The sergeant kept calling William back to update him on how things were going. Later, he told him the federal Drug Enforcement Agency was involved and it would cost $15,000 dollars to keep him out of prison. The sergeant said he could bring it down to $5,000.
William was instructed to take $5,000 dollars out of his bank account in cash, then go to the Apple Store to purchase iTunes cards.
He bought $5,000 in iTunes gift cards. He walked out of the store with 10 cards - each of them $500 - and called the sergeant.
"He was so kind, he was the closest thing I had to helping my grandson," said William.
The sergeant told William to read him the redemption codes on the back of the iTunes cards. After that, William thought his grandson would be in the clear.
The next day - another phone call.
William says that same sergeant called back to ask for another $5,000 dollars. He went back to the same bank to take out more cash and went back to the same Apple Store to buy another 10 iTunes cards. No one at the bank or Apple store questioned why. William called back and gave the sergeant the codes on the iTunes cards.
The very next day, another call. Another $5,000. William went back to his bank to take out the cash. This time he says a banker asked him why he kept taking out the cash.
William said, "If I tell you I'll have to kill you."
He says she warned him of a situation where an elderly person was tricked into sending thousands of dollars in gift cards to Los Angeles because that person's grandchild was also in trouble.
William still took out the money. He says he was worried his grandson would go to prison if he did not do as he was asked. He went back to the Apple Store to get another 10 iTunes cards for $5,000.
He says he ran into the same people at the store for the third consecutive day, but again no one questioned why he was purchasing all the cards.
William then gave the codes to the sergeant again.
Later, William was finally able to get in touch with his grandson after sending the $15,000 to protect him.
"He said, 'Grandad I don't know what you are talking about,'" recalled William.
The entire situation was fake.
"I felt so stupid," said William.
This is known as the "grandparents scam" according to the Better Business Bureau. It has been around since at least 2010 and the BBB, FBI, even state justice departments have sent out warnings about it. William's case proves that this is still happening.
A spokesperson for the BBB of Southern Arizona, Ryan Foster, says one way to make sure this doesn't happen to you is verify who you are talking to on the phone if they are asking for money.
"You can ask simple questions like, 'What's your middle name? What school did you got to?'" said Foster.
In this case, William wants to know why no one at the Apple Store asked questions when an elderly man came to the store on three consecutive days to purchase $15,000 in iTunes gift cards, especially if the scam has been around for at least six years.
Nine On Your Side contacted Apple with William's question and asked if they could do anything to help. Five days later they never responded.
William filed reports with the Pima County Sheriff's Department and FBI. Foster says if you get a phone call like this you can also contact the Attorney General's office and the BBB.
In the end, William is out $15,000 and has 30 iTunes gift cards that are completely worthless. His grandson is ok. William says he has friends who could be victims of a situation like this and wants to make sure something similar does not happen to them.
