Published Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at: 7:00 AM EDT
It started innocently enough. Bill Frielander picked up the phone one recent morning at around 10 am. The person on the line said, "Hi Grandpa, it's Jason." To Bill, the voice sounded close enough to his grandson's that he didn't worry. The two chatted amiably a few minutes about family and school and nothing else in particular.
But then "Jason" dropped the hammer. He told Bill that he had been in a drunk driving accident in a neighboring state. Someone else had been injured and Jason needed $1,950 to keep his name out of the records. An attorney who was supposedly advising him could make it all go away for that fee. But Jason said he needed the money right away and that he was afraid to tell his parents. And he asked that Bill not tell anyone else about it because he was ashamed.
Bill was almost convinced and ready to ante up. But when the caller requested the money, there was something about his voice that made Bill pause. He had his wife call Jason's personal cellphone from her own phone while Bill was still talking to the person asking for money. It turned out Jason was safely at home, hadn't left the state in weeks and had not been in any accident. When Bill confronted the caller with this information, the imposter quickly hung up.
Bill was fortunate that he didn't fall for this "grandparent scam," but many others haven't been as lucky. Scammers are able to find out personal information and sound enough like the people they are impersonating to be believable. They target elderly people and pull on their heartstrings with a story about needing cash in a hurry.
If you get a call that sounds suspicious, the worst thing you can do is to help out the caller by referring to other confidential information (for example, the names and locations of other family members). Here's what the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises:
This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Preferred NY Financial Group,LLC and is not intended as legal or investment advice.
An individual retirement account (IRA) allows individuals to direct pretax incom, up to specific annual limits, toward retirements that can grow tax-deferred (no capital gains or dividend income is taxed). Individual taxpayers are allowed to contribute 100% of compensation up to a specified maximum dollar amount to their Tranditional IRA. Contributions to the Tranditional IRA may be tax-deductible depending on the taxpayer's income, tax-filling status and other factors. Taxed must be paid upon withdrawal of any deducted contributions plus earnings and on the earnings from your non-deducted contributions. Prior to age 59%, distributions may be taken for certain reasons without incurring a 10 percent penalty on earnings. None of the information in this document should be considered tax or legal advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor for more information concerning your individual situation.
Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible and these is no mandatory distribution age. All earnings and principal are tax free if rules and regulations are followed. Eligibility for a Roth account depends on income. Principal contributions can be withdrawn any time without penalty (subject to some minimal conditions).
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