Elderly people that live in retirement homes should be aware of a new scam that has come to light. Criminals are calling individuals, usually women, who reside in retirement homes, and then pretend to be grandchildren in order to extort money. One of these crooks will call a retiree and say, “Hey Grandma, it’s Timmy. I’ve been in an accident. Do you think you could wire me some money so I can fix my car?” The unsuspecting woman then wires money through Western Union and the crook on the other end cashes and gets off scot-free. They can get away with the scam because Western Union does not require identification for wire transfers of $1,000 or less. If you have elderly parents living in these facilities, tell them know to hang up and call back to make sure the call is legitimate. The best way to stop this awful scheme is to be aware and to prevent it from happening in the first place.