Grandmother loses nearly $10K to scammer who pretended to be her granddaughter

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A grandmother was scammed out of nearly $10,000 by someone posing as her granddaughter, claiming to need bail money after a car accident, according to police.

There had been no accident and Carolyn Bentley's granddaughter was not in jail, the St. Petersburg woman later learned, but by then she had already handed over the money.

Bentley says the woman on the other end of the phone sounded just like her granddaughter, but hours later she was able to get her real granddaughter on the phone and realized it was all a scam.

Pages and pages of CapTel phone messages detail how the scammer took advantage of the innocent victim.

“She told me she had an accident and she was upset and she sounds upset," Bentley told FOX 13 News.

The caller who was posing as her granddaughter told her she rear-ended someone and needed $9,800 in bail money. Bentley was convinced it was her loved one on the phone, so she withdrew the money.

A man, who was also on the phone, posed as an attorney and later came by Bentley's home to collect the cash. Hours later she talked with her actual granddaughter and realized it was all a scam.

“I said, 'How was your car?' and she said 'What are you talking about, grandma? I've been at work,'" Bentley recalled.

Carolyn Bentley with daughter, Linda and her great-granddaughter.

Bentley and her daughter, Linda went to the St. Petersburg Police Department to report what happened.

“It’s disgusting. I mean, you’re going to prey on the elderly. They worked all their lives to get what they got," Linda said.

According to police, it’s a scam known as the 'grandparent scam.' Scammers specifically target the elderly and use social media to collect information about family members.

“It upset me to no end. Needless to say, that night I did not get much sleep," Bentley said.