Scams explained
What is the grandparent scam?
A caller says they are your grandchild, or a lawyer or officer calling for them, and that the grandchild has been arrested or hurt and needs money for bail or legal fees. They ask you to keep it quiet. The money is collected as cash by a "courier" at your door, or sent by wire, gift card, mail or cryptocurrency.
Drawn from 574 news stories in the Elderus archive. Last updated October 17, 2026.
If a message like this reached you, you were right to stop and look it up. These are professional operations, and they reach careful people every day.
What our news archive shows
574 news stories in the Elderus archive mention the grandparent scam, the earliest from February 2024. Together they name 45 states. The places named most often: Florida (36), New York (35), Pennsylvania (25), California (25) and Massachusetts (24).
What people were asked to hand over
Across the 121 stories with this scam in the headline:
Stories added each month in 2026
The busiest month so far this year was August 2026, with 16 stories.
What does the grandparent scam look like?
- "Grandma, it's me" or "Grandpa, I'm in trouble," often with a crying or muffled voice, which may be cloned with AI.
- A second caller posing as a lawyer, public defender, bail bondsman or police officer.
- A request to keep it from the grandchild's parents.
- Someone who comes to the house to pick up cash, or instructions to mail cash in a box.
How does the grandparent scam work?
- Names and family details come from social media and data sites, and short voice clips can be enough to imitate a voice.
- The secrecy request keeps you from calling the parents, which would end the scam in one call.
- After the first payment, there is often a second call asking for more, for a "new charge" or a hospital bill.
How it has shown up in the news
A caller posing as a grandson in Louisiana said he was in jail and needed bond money; a woman posing as a bail bond courier then came to the house to collect the cash.
Read the story →An Ohio grandmother got a call from a supposed deputy sheriff asking $5,000 for her grandson's bail while the grandson was upstairs in her house.
Read the story →In Illinois, the Better Business Bureau described a back-to-school version, with callers posing as grandchildren in a school-related emergency.
Read the story →What should I do if I get one?
- Hang up and call your grandchild, or their parents, on a number you already have.
- Agree on a family code word now, so anyone who calls in trouble can say it.
- If you paid, call your bank and the police. If someone came to your home to collect money, tell the police that too.
Call the bank or card company first, using the number on the back of your card. The sooner they hear, the more they can stop. Then report it. Step-by-step help if you were scammed →
Not sure whether a message is a scam? Paste it into the Scam Checker →
Who do I report it to?
Your state's Adult Protective Services and attorney general take reports too. Find the numbers for Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, California, or any state.
Common questions
Can they really copy my grandchild's voice?
Yes. Reports in our archive describe scammers using AI voice cloning built from short clips posted online. A family code word is the most dependable check.
Do bail bondsmen pick up cash at the house?
Bail is paid at the court or jail, or through a licensed bondsman's office. A stranger sent to your door for cash is part of the scam.
Sources
- Police warn 'Grandparent Scam' on the rise, elderly victim allegedly scammed of $13k cash ktalnews.com · January 2026
- Grandparent scam targets seniors with fake emergency calls - KOTA kotatv.com · April 2026
- Grandparent Scams » Police Department - Sudbury, MA sudbury.ma.us · May 2026
- The 'Grandchild in Trouble' call: A Back-to-School scam targeting grandparents qctimes.com · August 2026
- Richmond County Sheriff's Office warns about ongoing bond scam wrdw.com · August 2026
How we count
Elderus collects news reports about fraud against older adults every day. A story counts toward this page when its headline or summary describes the grandparent scam. Copies of one story syndicated to several outlets count once, and stories that fail our quality checks (no usable summary, video transcripts, coverage outside the U.S.) are left out. States are the ones named in each story's headline and summary. Payment methods come from the stories with the scam in the headline. Monthly counts begin in January 2026 and use the date each story entered our archive. These figures describe news coverage. They do not measure how often the scam happens, since most scams are never reported in the news.