Hi, I am Shannon Robinson, I am fundraising to help my grandparents rebuild after they fell victim to Elder Fraud. They, like all Grandparents are so sweet and trusting and would do anything for their family. So on June 30th, 2021 when a young women called pretending to be me and needing help, they did not hesitate.
The young women pretending to be me called crying and explained that she had been arrested for felony texting and driving after getting into an accident and was incarcerated. She cried that she was so upset that she wouldn't be able to travel to the river for the holiday weekend ( which we can only assume they found my social media accounts and were able to access that information, since it is one of my hobbies) and that she just needed funds sent to the bailsman and would be released. A "lawyer" got on the phone and had a very convincing story, that if the funds were sent right away that all charges would be dropped and I would be released. They were not to call anyone because the evidence could be compromised. The person on the phone explained that because of Covid-19 protocols that a courier would pick the money up. The con artist requested $20,000 cash. My grandparents being as trusting as they are went straight to the bank and pulled the cash from the little retirement they have. A courier came, parked at the bottom of their driveway (approx. 200 yards long) so they could not see the car and picked up the money. A few hours later my Grandma called me to check on me and see how I was feeling after the accident and that's when this terrible fraud was brought to light.
My grandparents are so embarrassed, all my grandma could say was " I'm smarter than this" and they are. But when your granddaughter calls crying all they wanted to do was fix the reason why.
This is such a violation on our family and I feel partly responsible that these trolls could use my social media against them. I would love nothing more than to show my grandparents that there is good in the world and help them out in any way possible.
Please share this story to help spread awareness of Elder Fraud, this is happening everyday, to everyday people. Anyone can become a victim. We have all received the fraud calls asking for our social security number or someone whom calls from clearly over seas saying they are from a branch of law enforcement but to me this feels different. My heart is so heavy and my stomach is in knots knowing these people were at their home and know where they live. All this and knowing this was money they didn’t have to give makes this so heartbreaking.
Thank you in advance, anything and all will help.