The producers and reporters I work with on the 10News I team accuse me of loving certain phrases. "Scum bag" and "the bad guys" are two of my favorites. That's because I've been chasing fraud--big and small-for more than two decades. And that is my MO when describing the rats I have come across. I still get fired up about scum bags doing their thing--stealing from the trusting or the naive. Like the 'Grandmother Scam' airing on Wednesday night at 11pm on December 12th. It’s from I team reporter Elizabeth Sanchez, photojournalist Michael Gonzalez and producer Kristen Castillo.
When the e mail came into the unit, I knew immediately what we had. A dirty deal, a low down rat at work. A family in Oceanside wanted the I Team to know that their grandmother had been hit up by a scheme. (You'll meet the grandmother in tonight's story) I have seen bad guys working this before; eight years ago we did a similar story. They target grandmothers, taking advantage of their trusting and loving nature. GRRRRRRRRRR. The scum bags are probably punks on dope living in Canada. I can't tell you for sure because they are never caught. Never. The creeps get away with it and that is why they resurrect it periodically. They look through newspapers at the obituaries. It's a good place to shop for widows, who are good targets if there are grandchildren mentioned.
Of just get phone directory and start calling. Elizabeth will lay out how they pull this off in her story. Don't miss this if you have a grandmother who is sweet, trusting and worries about her grandkids. She may not know she is a target of the lowest of the low--a scum bag.

jwblog@10news.com