ACTION 9: Scam Targeting Seniors Uses Family Members

The Better Business Bureau is warning seniors about what they’re calling the biggest scam against seniors in North Carolina.

The BBB has labeled it the grandparents scam because scammers pose as grandchildren to steal money.

Ben Horack was taken for $3,000 in a phone scam.

"It makes you feel like an absolutely stupid asinine idiot," he said.

The call was from someone who claimed to be a family member.

The caller said he was Horack's grandson. Horack couldn't quite hear, so he asked if it was Trey.

At that point, the scammer had a name. Now he was Trey, and making small talk. The scammer, who'd now gained Horack's confidence, said he'd been in a wreck.

Then he said he needed $3,300 to get his car out of the repair shop and would pay the money back after the insurance check came in.

Ben then followed trey's instructions and wired a $3,300 money gram to Walmart in Columbia. A few days later he called his real grandson Trey and found out he'd not been in a wreck and hadn't called asking for money

Tom Bartholomy is the president of the Southern Piedmont BBB. He said don't make the mistake of blurting out names. Instead, ask that supposed grandchild questions you know the answers to.

"The more questions you ask them, the ansyer they’re going to get and they’re going to get off the phone,” he said.

Horack, a former attorney said if it could happen to him it could happen to any senior.

"But I decided I was going to be public about it and maybe it'll help somebody else,” he said.