Another East Bay woman falls victim to ‘grandson scam,’ loses $12,500

For the second time in four months
By Melanie Woodrow
Click here for updates on this story
WALNUT CREEK, California (KGO) — For the second time in four months, a senior at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek was targeted in the “grandson” scam. A caller pretending to the be the victim’s grandson said he’s in jail and needs bail money.
“How did they get my phone number to start this whole thing?” said Donna, who asked that we not use her last name.
She’s trying to make sense of the senseless – a call she recently received from her grandson Cameron.
“It wasn’t my grandson but he sounded exactly like him,” said Donna.
The person she believed was Cameron said he was in jail, having hit another driver who was pregnant while on his cellphone.
He told his grandma he had a lawyer, who also got on the phone.
“And the attorney said yeah, we need $7,500 in cash for bail,” said Donna.
Donna said she followed instructions to wrap the cash in a box covered in wrapping paper that she happened to have.
Then a courier came to Rossmoor, a gated community for adults, to pick it up.
“The front gate said we can’t let him in without a last name, I never got a last name,” said Donna.
“I looked out the front window and his car was out there already, they had let him in without a last name,” she continued.
She handed over the box of cash and a couple of hours later got another call, this time asking for $5,000.
“The windshield is broken and I don’t know he said some other stuff, the front end is a mess and I said well, we have insurance for that, he said well, just to be safe, let’s do the whole $5,000 and we can return what you don’t, I mean that was a huge clue,” recounted Donna.
Both times, Donna said the bank tried to intervene when she withdrew the cash.
“She said, why are you taking so much cash out, and I said I’m going on a trip to France, because he had told me don’t tell the bank anything – it’s none of their business,” said Donna.
The second time, a bank employee even checked to see who was with Donna.
“He went out to make sure that my husband was in the car, not someone else so he really cared,” she explained.
It’s not the first time a Rossmoor resident has been targeted.
In late September, 7 On Your Side introduced you to Lois, who lost nearly $50,000 in the grandson scam, by depositing the supposed ‘bail’ money to a Coinme machine at a Safeway. The money went to the perpetrator’s crypto account and was immediately gone.
“Supposedly we’re rich, we’re retired. So we don’t need the money. Unbeknownst to them, it’s just the opposite – we’re retired,” said Donna.
It was Donna’s daughter-in-law, Cameron’s mom, who realized she was being scammed.
“And I said, Donna, Donna, I hardly let her answer, I said Donna, Donna, I know what this is, it’s a scam, it’s a scam, stop everything, stop everything,” said Nikki.
“Her response was just utter astonishment, she just – she couldn’t even talk,” she continued.
Rossmoor tells 7 On Your Side that its gate policy requires driver’s licenses are scanned when entering Rossmoor. It’s not clear if that happened here for both couriers.
Rossmoor also says the information they obtained about the drivers and vehicles in this case has been given to Walnut Creek police.
Walnut Creek PD says you should be cautious about urgent calls and never send money without verification. Police recommend contacting other family members to verify or even having a password with your family members that they know to use if there truly is an emergency.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.