'It Destroys Lives': Grandparents In Local County Being Victimized By Facebook Scam

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police believe they are closing in on whoever is scamming grandparents in one local county.

The con artists are pretending to be the victims' grandchildren on Facebook and asking for money.

Even more shocking, the victims are out tens of thousands of dollars.

Law enforcement said areas like Greene County are target-rich for these kinds of scams.

The scam can be traced from Greene County to New York.

There have been three confirmed cases, police said.

"We put a name on it. We call it "The Grandparent Scam," said Captain William DeForte of the Greene County Regional Police Department.

The grandparents were called on their landlines, but the scammers' sophisticated web didn't start on the phone.

The investigation led officials to Facebook, where a goldmine of information is available for scammers.

"They're looking for grandchildren who are calling them trigger names like 'Mimi' or 'Grandma' or 'Nonna' and they're finding out the vehicles and all the names of the grandchildren and they are using that when they call," DeForte said.

The scammers used those personal names when on the phone with the Greene County grandparents, and the script they used would have scared anyone.

"The perpetrator calls the elderly victim and says that they're their grandson and they were involved in an accident," Deforte said. "And the accident caused the death of a child in another vehicle and they are in jail and they need bail money."

The scammers then instruct the grandparents to go to a local bank and get cash.

They tell the grandparents to overnight the money to a Bronx, New York address.

"Some of the other ones that we're going to be taking a look into is as high as $38,000, $25,000," Captain DeForte said. "It destroys lives. They can't recover from this."

Captain DeForte said the grandparents feel ashamed, embarrassed and even "stupid."

Officials are urging seniors, in particular, to keep social pages private and don't add friends you don't know.