Grandma Fraud By Wire Transfer

Saw this story today from the BBC about "Grandma Scams" and thought a break from the credit crisis was in order. An enterprising group of criminals has been calling grandparents in the United States and United Kingdom posing as a grandchild in trouble who is in need of a wire transfer to get out of legal trouble or for emergency medical bills. The ploy is a call with "Hi, Grandma, It's me, your favorite grandchild." The scammers ask the grandmas to wire money using Money-Gram. Of course, the big point to remember here is that the wire transfer system is not for those who aren't absolutely sure who they are sending money to. I tell my students to check, double-check and triple-check wire transfer information because once each party bears responsibility for its own errors. Once sent, the sender is obliged to pay a payment order that the bank executes as instructed. UCC 4a-402.

Grandmothers beware . . .

— JSM