State officials have issued a warning about a so-called "grandparents scam." Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says a woman from Corning fell victim to the scam last week and lost 29-hundred dollars.
The woman said she received a call from someone claiming to be her grandson. The person said he was in trouble and needed money to post bond. The woman wired cash to Canada.
Other Iowans are reporting similar calls. Miller says the caller usually urges the grandparent to keep the conversation confidential and not tell other family members. The scam artists are believed to be using information from social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to make the call sound more authentic.