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Inside the Heartbreaking World of the Grandparent Scam

The investigative report you need to share with your family

I’ve told my parents many times: I will never call them asking for money. If someone does—even if the person claims I’m in trouble, even if the voice sounds exactly like me—it almost certainly is a scam. Hang up and give me a call.

It often feels like we’re living in a world of scams and scammers at every corner, and one of the most insidious and devastating is what’s known as the “grandparent scam”—the manipulation of elderly people to believe a young relative is in danger or in jail and needs money urgently to make it right.

In the cover story for our December issue, contributing writer Rachel Browne takes us into the minds and mechanisms of the layered schemes that are exploiting the emotions of our parents and grandparents, robbing them of their savings and leaving them untrusting and fearful. The investigation is one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve edited.

As one........

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