There is nothing more irritating than a telemarketer calling you at home during the evening hours.  But what if that phone call wasn’t a telemarketer but rather your grandchild crying on the phone asking for your help?  What would you do?  Don’t answer that yet until we fill you in a little further.  Now imagine your grand child is claiming they have been arrested and they need you to immediately send money via Western Union to get them a bail bond and get them out.  Your first instinct is to help and do what you need to do to get your grandchild freed.  But beware.  There is currently a scam going on right now targeting the elderly that involves this very thing.  And you would be surprised how many people are falling for it.

We thought it would be helpful to provide people a few good bail bond tips to help them avoid falling for this scam.  Here are some good rules to follow:

• A bail bond agent will rarely call you directly.   The call you will usually receive will probably be from the defendant asking you to find a bail bond agent for them.

• In the rare instance that you receive a call, always double check that the agency is a legitimate business and that they really have been asked to call on behalf of your relative.  Some agencies will obtain booking information illegally and then solicit you for bail which is also illegal. 

• You shouldn’t ever have to send money via western union without completing any paperwork, talking with the agent in more detail or better understanding what is going on.

• If you do receive a call from someone claiming to be a family member, always do a double check and try calling or texting them directly either during or after the call.

If you follow these simple guidelines we are pretty certain you won’t fall into this trap.  If you need to find a good, trusted bail agent, we also recommend that you visit www.expertbail.com.  Each agent in the ExpertBail Network must meet a strict set of financial, experience and performance criteria to be included in the network.  When you work with an ExpertBail verified agent, you can be confident you are working with the best in the business.

Read the original story about this most recent scam below.

Original article: Grandma, please get me out of jail! Silicon Valley elders warned about this scam and other fraud.