'Grandchild in trouble' is latest in phone scams

It seems plausible enough; the phone rings, and it's a grandson on the line.

"Grandma, I'm in trouble!"

Grandma isn't surprised, perhaps her daughter's son has had brushes with the law before, or perhaps his story -- "The marijuana belonged to the guy who was with us!" -- is true.

Johnny's voice sounds different, but that's because he has a cold, he assures his grandmother.

Nevertheless, when Grandma returns the call to the number Johnny provides, "Officer Brown" gives instructions for sending $7,500 to "bail" Johnny out of jail, oh, and don't mention it to anyone else.

It's a scam, of course. Grandma didn't bother to check whether Johnny really was in the jail he claimed to be, and by the time she finds out, Grandma's money is long gone.

It's happened recently in McCook and many other places around the state, according to recent press reports. Fortunately, some potential victims haven't lost their money, but too many others have.

If you or a loved one receives such a call, it's probably a scam. At least double- or triple-check the facts before sending any money.

Thieves are always coming up with creative ways to separate people from their hard-earned cash. Another phone scam making the rounds is called the "one ring" scam.

You are especially vulnerable if you make a habit of returning calls that show up on the caller ID of your cell phone.

It doesn't even take as much effort on the part of the crook as the grandchild-in-trouble scam listed above and in today's news columns.

Scammers program computers to send out thousands of calls to random cell phone numbers, let the phone ring once, then disconct.

If you're curious enough to call back, you will be connected to a number somewhere like Grenada, Antigua or Barbuda, where you will hear everything from advertising to music, would-be psychics or even pornography. The longer you stay on the line, the more inflated per-minute or per-call dollars are charged to your bill.

The numbers are difficult to trace, and since they originate overseas, they're not regulated by U.S. laws.

Speaking of scams, recent high-profile hacks like the one that hit Target make it more important than ever that we protect our online identies.

We're not very good at it.

According to the data management company SplashData, the most common password of 2013 was "123456." Second was "password," which was last year's No. 1. Rounding out the top 10, in order, were "12345678," "qwerty," "abc123," "123456789." "111111," "1234567," "iloveyou," and "adobe123."

Experts have good advice for protecting your online identity -- including not using any of the passwords listed above.

For advice from the Federal Trade Commission, click here.