When That Phone Call From Your Kid Actually Isn’t

Phone scam image via Getty Images

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When Your Kid Calls You Frantically In Need of Money But Isn’t Actually Your Kid

It’s happened again.

Phone scammers targeting a Bucks County couple managed to get $34,000 out of them after the couple received a frantic call from a person they believed to be their daughter. Naturally, it wasn’t their daughter. But, as they told 6 ABC, it sure did sound like their daughter. Police arrested her after a deadly car crash. She needed money. A “lawyer” and a courier materialized. And now the couple is out $34,000.

It wasn’t long ago that the most pervasive scams were emails you’d receive from some former treasury minister of some country somewhere on the other side of the world. The supposed treasury minister needed help getting $40 million in gold out of some account and would reward you handsomely if you would just help him. Most people just deleted those emails. Some didn’t, and lost a ton of cash.

But these days, scammers are far more sophisticated and turning more and more to these fake phone calls. They usually surround some kind of fictional emergency involving a loved one of the person the scammer calls.

I know two people this has happened to in recent months.

In the one instance, the scammer called a Lower Merion grandmother, pretending to be her grandson. He said he hit a pregnant woman with his car. He was in jail, needing immediate cash. And he gave her the number of a lawyer to call to make the transaction happen. She swore up and down that the voice sounded exactly like her grandson. Fortunately, she called another relative before doing anything, and the jig was up.

The other instance involving another friend of mine in Delco was very similar. The target in question knew from the get-go that the whole thing was phony.

I’m guessing that most people don’t actually give up the money. But if you try to scam 1,000 people and only two percent cough up $30,000, you’re doing OK for yourself.

It’s a strange, strange world and only getting stranger. So be careful out there.

Judge Orders Theater to Show a Movie

Yes, you read that right.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute had been scheduled to show the Israeli documentary The Child Within Me last night. Just a single screening as part of the 28th Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia, which is taking place at a few venues in and around Philadelphia.

Then on Monday, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute decided to cancel the screening amid protests and outcry from groups critical of Israel. And just when we thought that was that, the whole thing wound up at an emergency hearing in court. And the judge ordered the theater to show the film, which it did.

Protesters showed up. There are calls to boycott the theater and some of its sponsors. Basically, it’s all exactly the big mess that you’d expect it to be. And you can read more about it here.

Local Talent

Congratulations are in order for Kalaya, the Philly spot that has turned the Thai food scene on its head. Kalaya opened five years ago today, on April 10, 2019, and has won so many awards and accolades since that I’ve lost count. The key to Kalaya’s success is, of course, the restaurant’s talented chef-owner, Nok Suntaranon. We caught up with her recently to talk $95 tom yum soup and why she dislikes the terms “New American” and “Progressive American” so much. You can catch the full interview here.

Lisa Ann Walter (photo courtesy Lisa Ann Walter)

Though she’s not actually from South Philly, comedian Lisa Ann Walter sure seems like she is when she plays the hilarious role of South Philly teacher Melissa Schemmenti on the hit ABC show Abbott Elementary. Walter just announced three shows at Helium in July. You can pick up tickets here.

Finally, if you see Philly’s own Colman Domingo (he was recently nominated for the Oscar for his brilliant work in Rustin) running around town, it’s because he’s filming a new Netflix series here.

By the Numbers

1,462: Rolling average of Philadelphia shooting victims as of today. If you need a reminder on what the rolling average is (I discussed it on Monday), this is the number of shooting victims over the past 365 days. It’s a useful tool for measuring just how violent Philadelphia actually is, as opposed to relying on the bleeds-it-leads local TV news broadcasts. 1,462 is the lowest rolling average since July 12, 2019. If we keep going at this rate (and let’s hope that we do!), we’ll be looking at 2018 numbers pretty soon.

12,000: Free haircuts a barber under the El in Kensington has given out over the last ten years. One might call him a hair-o. (Sorry!)

2: Number of days we’re forecasted to hit 79 degrees early next week. But let me save you the trouble: The Jersey Shore is still lingering in the 60s. So save up those sick days.

And From the Half-and-Half Sports Desk …

As my esteemed colleague Victor has mentioned, I missed a few days of sports action in traveling to see the eclipse at Lake Erie with the kids and grandkids. (Photos below.) It was a magnificent celestial spectacle we observed with a few thousand other folks at Shades Beach Park, and as glorious as the shadow falling across the sand and beach chairs was, even more thrilling was sharing it with — well, with more other people than I’ve been around since COVID began, I think.

What struck me most was how friendly and genial our fellow eclipse-gazers were, as we all ooh’d and aah’d together, sure, but also as we picnicked under the pavilion, as the kids ran rampant in the playground, and even in the incredibly lengthy lines for the Port-o-lets, not just at the beach, but at the rest stops all along our 11-hour journey home. (The traffic woes were not exaggerated, my friends.)

The whole experience gave me a renewed sense of hope for our nation. My more cynical son said we eclipse-viewers self-selected for, well, wackiness: How far would you go to see a shadow? But in the general good humor and geniality, not to mention the wildly creative assortment of bumper stickers and license plates we saw on the road, I felt more than that. There still are some events momentous enough to unite us as a nation — to make us laugh together and gasp together and share toilet paper and hand sanitizer outside the Port-o-lets. Maybe there’s hope for America after all.

And hope for the Sixers, apparently, who’d won five in a row going into last night’s home matchup with the Pistons, with and without Joel Embiid. He was back on the court to start the final week of the regular season, though Tyrese Maxey was out following his career night on Sunday, and Kyle Lowry was resting for the game. The Sixers started hot, with Joel, Cam Payne, Tobias Harris, Nic Batum and Kelly Oubre Jr. sprinting to a 30-22 lead halfway through the first quarter behind some fancy dancing by Joel, then reeling off six straight to start the second quarter. They held on and were up 64-50 at the half.

Joel Embiid at the half:

20 points
6 assists
3 steals
58% FG pic.twitter.com/eGd9qx1Anf

— Sixerdaily (@Sixerdaily) April 10, 2024

Jaden Ivey had the hot hand for Detroit as they fought back in the third and came within a single point before our guys regrouped and got it back to 90-78 to close the third. Hey, Bricken for Chicken! The Sixers stormed ahead in the final frame and closed it out handily, 120-102 — a good sign for the playoffs to come. Joel had 37 points in 36 minutes, including this.

https://twitter.com/SecretaryHurts/status/1777869210284118088

Two more games to go …

How’d the Phils Do?

Zack Wheeler took the mound last night in the Phils’ away game against the Cardinals, and he got into a pinch in the second with men on first and third before striking out Masyn Winn to end the threat. Other than that, it looked like a pitcher’s duel between Wheels and Sonny Gray until Nolan Gorman whacked a solo homer in the fourth to put the Cards up 1-0. They notched two more in the fifth — so much for that pitcher’s duel. Bryson Stott beat out an infield hit with one out in the seventh, and Nick Castellanos got on with a broken-bat single before reliever JoJo Romero walked Brandon Marsh to load ’em up, but Whit Merrifield struck out. Could Kyle Schwarber get the job done? Nah, he struck out. The fan base was … not pleased.

2023 #Phillies : RISP problems, base running errors, no run support, big bats go quiet for long stretches

Well lets do nothing and see if this changes

2204 #Phillies : RISP problems, base running errors, no run support, big bats go quiet for long stretches

— Brian, My Dudes in Brofile (@ElonDaDork) April 10, 2024

Wheeler started the seventh by giving up a base hit and a walk before J.T. Realmuto got really hurt on a crappy-ass pitch in the dirt that bounced up into his throat and took him out of the game. Marsh saved Zack’s arse with a terrific running catch, and Trea Turner started the eighth with his second infield hit of the night, but naught came of that, either. Ricardo Pinto came in for Wheeler and gave up a walk and a single but escaped unscathed. On to the ninth … in which the Phils did nada. Pfft. One last chance against the Cards, this afternoon at 1:15.

And Thanks Are Due …

To the Eagles’ Fletcher Cox, who held a belated retirement news conference yesterday. One of the greatest ever to play the game.

The Flyers also played.