San Luis Obispo, CA -- The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department is warning the public to be wary of the so-called “grandparent scam” and similar phone scams after an unidentified 82-year-old Arroyo Grande man was hospitalized briefly last week after receiving such a telephone call.

Officials say the man received a call from a person using his grandson’s actual name and said a public defender would be calling soon. About 20 minutes later another man called claiming to be the public defender. He then instructed the man on how to transfer 2500 dollars to a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, to cover the cost of damages his grandson caused in a traffic accident. The victim called the sheriff’s department.

The scammers’ phone numbers were traced to Quebec Canada.