Scam alert: Beware of calls from (supposed) best friends

scam alert yellow sign - rectangle signA call Wednesday led me to (almost) believe a good friend was in custody in Vancouver, BC. I normally don’t pick up calls from “Unknown Caller” but was expecting a delivery of an appliance. The voice and manner of speaking were close enough to my friend’s (caller said he had a cold) that it was credible to me. He said that after a wedding and party in Vancouver, he was designated driver of a rental car. The car was rear-ended. When the police arrived there was a strong smell of alcohol in the car. A young woman in the car had brought a bottle of booze in her purse that had broken or spilled. The police thought they were all drinking. He said he passed a breathalyzer test; also, that the passenger confessed that she had brought the booze. Even so, he–as the driver–was put in jail for having an open bottle in the car. Fine would be $1,000. Also, the damage to the rental car would be $7,500. He said he never should have gone to the wedding in Canada.

He needed $8,500 in cash. Said he would repay me within 72 hours. I asked why he had not called his wife. He said he did not want me to tell anyone else, including his wife. Said his attorney would call me with details. At the end of our conversation I told my “friend” that if I did not hear from his wife I would not send money.

The “public defender” called and explained the situation. No credit cards, PayPal, money orders, etc. Had to be cash sent by UPS or FEDEX. (Alarms are going off in my head.) Additional alarms: The money had to be sent right away to arrive before the court hearing tomorrow. All $100 bills sent by UPS or FEDEX to his office. He said that if I couldn’t do it, that’s OK; they would figure out something to help him.

After considerable discussion I told the “public defender” that if I did not have a call from his wife about this, I would not send any money. Both of the guys making the calls had clever answers to my questions and concerns. After doing research online about the name of the supposed attorney, I did not find anyone by that name.

Though I felt terrible about letting my friend down I heeded major red flags: 1) Must send cash; 2) transaction is extremely urgent.

There are probably variations of this scam going on, so I urge folks to heed the alarms in their head. Never send cash to anyone, and don’t respond if there seems to be an urgent deadline.

— By Cliff Sanderlin

  1. I’ve had someone attempt this over e-mail; the fact they’d attempt it over the phone is even more amazing. After getting a desperate email from my friend about her terrible situation in London, I dropped her a message on Facebook to ask if she was in the UK. She said “what?”

    That was the end of that.

  2. I usually don’t answer “Unknown Callers” in the first place. It’s amazing how many details an active imagination can fill in without the callers having to be specific (such as my friend’s name.) These guys had no foreign accent. The real alarms went off in my head when they told me to send “cash only.”

  3. Cliff, I’m glad they weren’t able to get any money out of you — plenty of people fall for these scams.

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