Montrose - Daily Press

MONTROSE — Elaine Bindel was shaken, but not taken. Still, she says she and her husband, Irvin, nearly fell for a sophisticated scam and she wanted the public warned.

Bindel received a phone call from a man claiming to be her adult grandson, who lives in Littleton. The man said he’d been arrested in Canada after a car crash because he’d been drinking.

A second man, claiming to be his attorney, called too, to corroborate the story. He told Bindel her grandson would need $3,400 to pay for damages to a rental vehicle and ensure the alcohol charge didn’t go on his record.

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Bindel said the first call came from Calgary, Alberta. The man pretending to be her grandson spoke a little strangely, but when she asked why, he said he had a bad cold.

“I would’ve sworn it was Chase (grandson),” she said Thursday, shortly after making a police report on the incident.

The “grandson” said he was calling Bindel because he was embarrassed and did not want his mother to find out about the arrest. He said he had money back at home with which he could reimburse her.

Bindel told him she didn’t have that kind of money immediately available, but would call another family member to see if she could help. The caller discouraged her from doing that. He said his attorney, “Jeffrey Waxman,” would be calling.

“What threw me is, he said it was Chase,” Bindel said.

The faux grandson also had a believable story: that he was in Canada on a fishing trip. “He loves to fish. It all made sense to me,” she said.

“Waxman” then called the Bindels and told them to send the cash via a MoneyGram at Wal-Mart. “I go crazy trying to get $3,500 (for the MoneyGram and fees),” Bindel recounted. “Everything sounded so real, like it could be. This one just threw me.”

The Bindels got as far as the Wal-Mart counter, with the money, where alert customer service specialists familiar with the scam saved the day.

“She’s a savior,” Irvin Bindel said of a representative he identified as Linda.

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Comments

Citizen wrote on Jun 27, 2009 9:05 AM:

" A big "thank you" to Linda, the Walmart customer service representative for alerting the Bindlels. Your excellent service goes above and beyond the call of duty. Nice job!! "




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well wrote on Jun 27, 2009 8:02 AM:

" Tell that to the government, be honest, something that they don't do. Cap and Trade was passed last night, now it goes to the Senate. If your power bill is 50 bucks now, it will be 100 later. This is the biggest tax bill yet, Gotta love that change, and scammers make it worse by stealing decent people's money. They must work for the government as well. "




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honesty wrote on Jun 25, 2009 1:33 PM:

" yea it is sad. A hard days work never hurt anyone, get a job! Even in this unpredictable economy, people have to learn how to not be too picky when it comes to finding work. It's far better to be honest than rich. "




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fraud is everywhere wrote on Jun 21, 2009 10:45 AM:

" I have seen a lot of fraud cases that have happened. The biggest warning that I could give the public is to make sure you know who you are dealing with. Especially watch internet transactions. Never give out personal info to emails or prompts. If they are asking to wire money, it is 99% chance it is fraud. Don't accept money orders or cashiers checks from who you don't know. Especially if they ask you to cash it for them. "




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Esther Phillips wrote on Jun 20, 2009 7:08 PM:

" This same thing happened to a friend of mine a couple of months ago. and he sent them the money. "




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H. Craig Bradley wrote on Jun 20, 2009 6:06 PM:

" A SNARE FOR ALL

Here is a lesson: There is a large amount of greed and fraud throughout society and the government can rarely protect anyone from suffering financial losses in some form or other.

This particular fraud scheme may have been in Canada, but Russia and Nigeria have plenty of their own fraudsters which are beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. law enforcement.

Therefore, all Individuals must protect themselves. No one else will do it for you, outside of immediate family. Don't depend on anyone else or the U.S. Financial system, which is going bankrupt fast. "




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sad wrote on Jun 20, 2009 8:50 AM:

" It gets pretty sad when someone has to pose as a relative to try to steal money. Earn money just like everyone else has to. It is sad these days, you can't trust anyone. "




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