Just after we went to press with Shirley Streshinsky’s article on the grandparent scam (“Grandpa, I’m in Trouble,” September/October), the U.S. Senate held a hearing to examine the rise of this pernicious form of telephone fraud. Invited to testify were FBI, Federal Trade Commission, and telecom industry representatives. Most of them spent their time speaking about issues like automated “robocalls” and reverse mortgage fraud. In the end, only the FTC discussed the grandparent scam, after the hearing’s first witness, an 81-year-old from Ohio who lost $7,000 to someone who impersonated his eldest grandson and pleaded for emergency cash, told his tale.
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