The victim’s granddaughter contacted KHON2′s Action Line. She wants to alert others of this scam and also hopes to convince her 89-year-old grandmother that she’s being scammed.
The telephone at Marie Calantoc’s house has been ringing off the hook for the past three weeks.
"Mostly every day, they’ll start calling from 3 or 4 in the morning until someone answers," said Tashie Calantoc, Marie’s granddaughter.
Tashie Calantoc says the caller, claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House, has convinced her grandmother that she’s won $2.5 million. And all she needs to do, is send money to collect her prize. She has sent, via Western Union, more than $30,000. Her grandmother hasn’t received her multi-million dollar check, but continues to send money and continues to wait.
"She clearly told me over the phone ‘I don’t believe this is a scam’," Calantoc said.
According to AARP Hawaii, this kind of scam, isn’t new, and victims, like Marie Calantoc, are in a "commitment dilemma."
"Once you’ve put in a little bit of money, you want to believe that you’ve done the right thing, so you kind of throw good money after bad, hoping that your investment will pay off," said Jackie Boland with AARP Hawaii.
AARP says family members should not embarrass the victims. They should help them realize they’ve been scammed, without actually saying it.
"You know and ask those kind of leading questions that will maybe ask them to question, ‘how much money do you think they’re going to need from you before they deliver your prize?’ " Boland said.
As for this Ewa resident, she’ll do anything to prevent her grandmother from sending another dime.
"Because I’m worried," she said. "They’re only getting their retirement money and whatever social security money, but I don’t know where they’re digging all this money from."
Tashie Calantoc says she has contacted Honolulu Police and they have agreed to talk to her grandmother to try to help her realize that she’s been scammed.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
