Senior Scammed Out Of $17,500

(GODERICH, ON) – On March 23, 2012 a Huron OPP officer was contacted to investigate a fraud. An officer met with the victim and learned the senior fell victim to a scam known as the “Grandparent or Emergency” scam. In this case, the victim received a phone call from a male claiming to be her grandson. Her “grandson” then stated he was involved in a collision using a rental car and needed money to have the car fixed and to pay some fines. Her “grandson” requested she keep everything quiet because he was embarrassed about the collision and didn’t want his parents to find out. The scammer instructed the victim to send $3,000 cash via Purolator to an address located in Montreal. After the first shipment of cash was received the scammer called back several more times and requested additional sums of money. The victim sent an additional four packages of cash through arranged pickups at her residence. In total the victim was defrauded of $17,500.

This scammer followed the usual script. In some cases, you may get a call from two people, one pretending to be your grandchild and the other pretending to be either a police officer or a lawyer. Other times, scammers pretend to be your old neighbour or a friend of the family, but for the most part, the emergency scam is directed at grandparents.

Protect yourself; remember scammers are counting on the fact that you will want to act quickly to help your loved ones in an emergency.

Never send money to anyone you don’t know and trust. Verify the person’s identity before you take any steps to help. Scammers usually want you to keep things confidential; this should raise your suspicions.
Don’t give out any personal information to the caller.
Investigate by asking the person questions that only your loved one would be able to answer. Call the child’s parents or friends to verify the story. Ask yourself, does the caller’s story make sense?
Educate your relatives, friends, and neighbours about this scam.

What should I do if I have been scammed? You should report the matter immediately to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or online at www.antifraudcentre.ca

As well, you should report the matter to the OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Although it may be difficult to recover the money you have lost to a scam by reporting the scam to authorities, you are warning other people about the scam and minimizing the chances of the scam spreading further.

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