Scam calls on the rise, how one Monterey man almost fell victim to fake grandson call

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) - Scam calls are on the rise according to a report from the Federal Government.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office is warning people about the uptick in scam calls.

A Monterey man, Ron Chessire almost fell victim to a scam call. He says the call seemed very real and the person on the other end even sounded like a family member. Chessire says the biggest red flag was how quickly the caller asked for money.

He says he received a call from somewhere in Marina. The voice on the other end of the line pretended to be his grandson who had just been in a severe car accident and was at fault.

"He had hit somebody in Monterrey and that there was a young lady. she was in the hospital, she was pregnant. there was a chance of losing the child," said Chessire.

The person on the other end told them to call someone who would help his grandson out.

"I called the individual and he basically told me that he was a district attorney person in the in the county of Monterrey and that they were going to get Michael out. It would it would cost a significant amount of money to get him free of these charges and such," said Chessire.

The caller was asking for over 9,000 dollars and even offered to pick it up outside of his home.

"They already have address or phone number, who we are and such, but no more than that and wouldn't give them anything more," said Chessire.

Luckily for Ron, he was quick to realize it was a scam call.

"It sounded so real. but then again, as eventually that went away, common sense started to take over. and, you know, we knew we knew what was going on," said Chessire.

But not everyone is quick like Ron to figure out a scam call.

The Federal Government reports scammers stole 8.8 billion dollars from victims last year a 30% increase compared to last year.

The Monterey County sheriff's office even put up a post on Facebook warning people of these scam callers posing as the Monterey County’s warrants department asking for money.

"I think they fall for them because, you know, number one, it did sound real and it sounded like it could have happened without checking," said Chessire.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office says they will not call and demand or request any money for any reason.

The sheriff's office is also warning people of calls pretending to be Captain Darlington and soliciting money from victims because of outstanding warrants.