HOUSTON—A Jersey Village grandma is speaking out after a con man claiming to be her grandson took her for thousands of dollars.
“I thought I was helping my grandson,” said Betty Grant.
Grant said Monday afternoon she was thinking not with her brain, but with her heart.
“I should have asked some questions,” she said.
The 77-year-old received a phone call around noon.
“All I heard was grandma,” she said. “I kept saying, ‘I can’t hear you.’"
"I heard 'trouble' and 'I need your help,' and that’s when I said, 'is this Alex or Stephen?' So, I gave him an opening to name one of my grandsons.”
The person on the other end of the line claimed to be Alex. He said he was in Canada and had been in a car accident. He needed thousands of dollars. The caller asked Grant not to tell his parents because he wanted to do so in person.
Betty Grant went to Walmart and sent him a Money Gram for $4800.
This morning she called her grandson on his cell phone.
“He answered the phone and I said, ‘Alex, are you still in Canada?’ ‘No, I’m in College Station taking final exams.’ And I said, ‘Well, Alex, I’ve just been scammed.’”
Betty Davis is one of many victims of financial crimes out there.
“We can’t keep up with it,” said Chief Prosecutor of Consumer Protection Markay Stroud.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office has received forty percent more consumer complaints this year than last year. The poor economy is likely to blame.
“Whenever someone wants you to send money, verify. You know if the story sounds outrageous, if it doesn’t make sense, don’t assume that it’s ok, check it out first,” Stroud said.
Betty Grant hopes others learn from what she experienced.
“I just want other grandparents to please be alert, watch for all those things that could not possibly be true,” she said.
