PERRY TWP, Armstrong County — A woman who lives just over the Butler County line between Bradys Bend and Bruin is warning her fellow senior citizens not to send money to “grandchildren” who are in legal trouble.

Joan Bly, 80, got a call on Thursday from a man identifying himself as a public defender who said her grandson was in prison and allowed one phone call.

The man then handed the phone to a young man who sounded like her actual grandson and used her grandson's name.

He said ''I hate to tell you what happened Grandma, but I need your help.”

The “grandson” said he had gone to the drugstore to buy allergy medicine and on the way home drove through a red light and hit a car.

“He said, 'The guy driving the other car is a state trooper and he took me up to jail,” Bly said. “It sounded exactly like my grandson.”

The other man then returned to the phone and said his name was William Davis and gave a toll-free number.

“He said, 'I'm going to help (the grandson) all I can,' and I said, 'Thank you for that,'” a shaken Bly said.

She said the man sounded very official and used legal terms, and said he would try to get her grandson into court that day so he could be released and return home.

“I'm thinking this guy really knows what he's talking about,” Bly said.

Then the man said the fine amount was $4,000.

“He said, 'I know, I feel bad. The courts are really expensive these days,'” Bly said.

After talking to her husband about the amount, a tearful Bly told the man she did not have $4,000.

“He said, 'That's OK, but keep in touch. I'll give you my phone number,'” Bly said.

“I have a heart condition and I didn't sleep all night,” Bly said. “I really and truly thought it was legitimate.”

When she called the man's number on Friday, she reached the answering system for an auto repair shop.

Her sister then told her that a service station near her home was also receiving calls from people who were told the number was that of an attorney.

Bly then called her grandson, who was at work as usual.

The state police said there was nothing they could do.

“I learned an important lesson,” Bly said.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons website, the “grandparent scam” perpetrators usually buy or steal their victim's information online, which is how they know the names of the grandchildren supposedly in need of money.

They immediately get the victim thinking emotionally instead of rationally and are slick at convincing the senior citizen of the troubling situation that only their money can solve.

According to the site, seniors who get a call from or about a grandchild or any other relative in danger or trouble in need of cash should pause, calm themselves, say they will have to consult another family member first, and hang up.

A quick phone call to a relative can confirm or debunk an emergency, and there would still be time to respond appropriately.