‘Glad I Hear From My Grand Kids Regularly!’

By Judi Curry

For the second time in two weeks I have received a telephone call from “my favorite” grandson.  Since I have 9 grandsons (and 11 granddaughters) it is difficult for anyone to assume that he/she is my “favorite” but apparently the person on the other end thought that he must be THAT ONE.  Funny though – he wasn’t sure of his name when I asked him which one.

When I answered the phone he said, “Hello grandma.  This is your favorite grandson.”

I had just talked to most of my grandsons because of Mother’s Day earlier in the week, so I asked him “which one?” He quickly said, “you know – your favorite.”  It was interesting to note that the phone number showing up on the dial was a San Diego number, because most of my grandsons are from Orange County, and of course it was a phone number I didn’t recognize, but I played along with the call.

He told me that he was in trouble. I told him so was I.  He was just getting around to tell me he needed some money, when I suggested that he contact the police department to see if they could help him. He hung up.  I went back to the phone screen to see if I could copy the phone number he called me from and was surprised to find that the screen was blank.

And the interesting thing was that the call I received a few days ago also ended up with a blank screen.  It was obvious that the person talking to me was different from the first time, and the call from the first time was not a San Diego number.

But as a grandmother I can see where a call telling me that one of the kids was in trouble would immediately have me asking what I could do to help. I don’t know how much he was going to ask for but I suspect it would be a substantial amount.  And as a loving grandparent, I would do anything I could to help him out.  But the problem in my situation is that I talk to my grandchildren frequently during the week.  They don’t wait until they are in trouble to call me – they let me know as the situation is happening.  It is doubtful that I would be scammed by a grandchild as much as I would be scammed by a stranger. (Like the Golden Retriever I purchased and never received!)

But I can’t help but wonder how this scammer got a San Diego phone number; how come the number was erased from my phone screen; how he got my number, etc.  I would have loved to have reported it to the police and that didn’t happen – this time.  However, I now know that when I get the next call, and I am sure I will, I will write down the number while we are talking so that I have it to report.  I am fairly certain that when I report it it will be a disconnected number, but I at least want to try.

Interesting enough almost minutes after I hung up from the call a good friend called me to ask me about a message she just received on her phone screen that stated, “SPAM.” My phone company – COX – allows me to alert them to spam calls, but it is limited to only 25 calls.  Period.  I sometimes receive 25 spam calls a week. Unless I remove those on my list and add the new ones it is completely useless.  But there is no question that for those not cognizant of spam calls, there is danger in responding to those calls.

So… to my “favorite grandson – please make sure you know your name next time you call, and if I am suspicious about that name, be prepared to answer a few more questions too, like where you were born, your Mom and Dad’s name, your brother and sister’s name; your wife’s name, your grandfather’s name, etc.  I look forward to talking to you.  Sort of.