CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral grandmother was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars after she fell for what’s commonly known as the “Grandparent Scam.”  

This type of scam targets the older population, often those who have grandchildren. Crooks will call them, either posing as their grandchildren or as legal figures demanding money to make bail for their grandchild who broke the law.  

The reality is – their grandkids are fine and the person on the other end of the line is a scammer.  

“I knew there was something strange, something wrong, but I didn’t know what it was,” said this Cape Coral grandmother, who wanted to stay anonymous out of fear of retaliation by the thieves.  

In her case, the fraudsters managed to convince her to send them $34,000 after claiming her grandson was in jail after getting into an accident.  

It all started when she got a phone call from someone claiming to be her grandson on Sunday.  

“He said, ‘Grandma. This is Cesar. Something very bad has happened.’” 

The voice on the other end didn’t quite sound like her grandson, but he went on to say he was in trouble and needed her help.  

“The phone rang and I went to pick it up and I crashed,” she said. 

According to the caller, the crash seriously injured a pregnant woman in the passenger seat, causing her to lose her baby.  

The “grandson” passed the phone to another man, who was supposedly his friend’s father, an attorney.  

“Yeah. Of course, I’ll talk to him, put him on. He put him on. ‘Thank you for taking my call,’ he said.” 

This new voice told her that her grandson is in jail and facing big-time crimes. His one call was to his grandmother, hoping she’d bail him out. The grand total was $36,000.  

“I said, $36,000? I don’t have that kind of money,” she said. 

Like any determined grandmother, she went to the back and got $18,000 in cold hard cash. Her instructions were to put it in a box with a case number and then hand it to a courier who was coming to her home.  

“He came back and said, ‘You won’t believe this!’ In the courthouse while he was there, he was taking pictures, selfies of himself,” she said. 

This “attorney” said the judge punished her grandson with $16,000 in additional bail, which she got and sent to South Carolina via FedEx. Meanwhile, this whole time the attorney claimed the judge enacted a gag order.  

“You can’t talk to anyone. No one. Just you and I and that’s it,” the scammer said. 

Yet again, the attorney called with more bad news. Her grandson violated the gag order and is back in the slammer. 

And guess what? He needed more money.  

“Oh my Lord. How could this be?” she said.

Out of cash, she goes to take a $12,000 advance on her credit card, but not before a bank teller stops her.  

“She said, ‘You know? That’s a scam. They’re scamming you.’” 

It’s in that moment that it all clicked. That wasn’t from her grandson and this attorney is anything but legal.  

“I’m such a stupid, stupid person,” she said.  

In all, she’s out $34,000.  

The reason she’s sharing her story is because she doesn’t want anyone else to fall for the same red flags she wishes she caught.  

“If something feels off, if something doesn’t feel right to you, just call the police,” said Cape Coral Police Department Public Information Officer Mercedes Phillips. “The police can investigate further to determine if it’s legitimate or a scam.” 

These cases rarely get solved, but by chance this one does, this grandmother can’t wait for revenge.  

“If they catch you, I’ll be there,” she said. 

To learn more about Grandparent Scams and how to avoid them, click here.