Elderly Couple Almost Scammed

(MUNICIPALITY OF NORTH PERTH, ON) On Monday July 15, 2013, an elderly couple attended the North Perth Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detachment in Listowel requesting advice on how to transfer money via a money transfer company to an address in Montreal.

When the couple was asked by the officer why they needed to transfer funds in such an urgent matter, they explained that money was needed by their grandson to ensure his release from custody. $2,500 was to be shipped by Fed-Ex to a non-police address in Montreal.

The couple advised the officer that a male called them who purported to be their grandson. He told the couple that he was in police custody in Montreal, as he had been there for a friend’s wedding over the weekend. While there, he was involved in a traffic collision with his rental car. Montreal police arrested him for having insufficient rental insurance on the car and he would not be released from custody until he had secured $2,500.

The officer advised the couple that this was a classic scam and went as far as contacting the couple’s son to prove that the grandson was at his place of work and had not been in Montreal on the weekend.

This incident is another reminder of how smooth and convincing these scammers are. With today’s technology, scammers will have personal information about you before they ever try to contact you. It is imperative that you verify an unsolicited contact before you would ever considering responding to it. Keep your guard up when you receive a surprise call from a “grandchild” that tells you they are in need of money for some emergent reason.

You work hard for your money, so work hard to protect it. Don’t hand it over to a smooth talking con artist. Anyone interested in more information on fraud can call the Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or check on line at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca

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