Monday, October 3, 2011

Family Fraud

When traveling through the islands you must always be aware of your surroundings and protect your personal information. Although you are in paradise there are still ripoff artist looking to make a profit.

When leaving on your island vacation make sure you inform your relatives as to where you are going and that you have adequate funds to make the trip as most of it will be prepaid anyway. The reason for this is what we call the grandparent or family fraud.

The person committing the fraud will contact your grandparents or someone in your family and will impersonate a doctor and lawyer are somebody in authority telling them you have met with a misfortune such as an accident or sickness. They will insist that they need emergency funds to remedy the situation and money must be wired immediately.

To prevent this scam always leave a number either your cell or hotel where you can be reached in case of emergency inform your relatives to contact you in case of an emergency. In casual conversation never give out family details or information that can be used to contact your family. Inform your family never to wire any funds anywhere unless they hear directly from you. While traveling through the islands it is a paradise but there also many sharks out there of the humankind.