Others warned to be aware after Vernon seniors fall victim to scam

Feb 15, 2022 | 4:00 PM

Relatives say two Vernon seniors were conned out of $4,000 by a smooth-talking scam artist.

The daughter and son-in-law of the 83-and 87-year-old victims called Vernon Matters Tuesday to outline what happened and warn others who could also fall victim to the same fraud.

The daughter of the victims, who want to remain anonymous, found a bank stub on her mother’s table this morning that said she had withdrawn $4,000 from her bank.

“When she confronted her mother, who has early dementia, her mother said ‘I can’t tell you because it’s a secret, and if I tell you, I won’t get paid.’ So the individual promised her she was going to make a lot of money with the $4,000, but it was going to be a secret,” the victim’s son-in-law told Vernon Matters.

The daughter says her mom went to the bank, took out $4,000 and gave it to a man in an envelope.

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“It was an investment scam. [They said] you can make lots of money, but don’t tell anybody as it’s a secret,” the daughter said.

The scammer, who called himself Mark, phoned the woman repeatedly.

“These guys are crooks,” the daughter exclaimed.

“They are very persistent and they are very smooth talkers. Whoever is doing this is a very smooth operator,” added the son-in-law.

The victim’s husband, 87, who also suffers from dementia, supported taking out the cash, thinking it would make the couple some money.

The daughter went to the bank after the incident and asked why they would allow the 83-year-old woman to withdraw that amount, and the bank reportedly said they have many people who come in and withdraw three times that amount of money.

The daughter, who has power of attorney, tried to get the payment stopped, and also went to the RCMP to report the crime.

“The [bank] will do nothing without a RCMP report, and they will not even release the

tapes for two full days to the RCMP so they have a chance to catch the guy right away,” said the son-in-law.

The relatives say the police will be investigating the incident, but in the meantime, they want to advise others about the scam.

“If the guy is phoning around town, maybe you can tell people to be aware. There is somebody that is scamming people. They are phoning people and saying they could make a lot of money, but be quiet and don’t tell anybody. If you tell anybody, then you are not going to make any money. That’s what they told my mom and dad.”

The relatives are not criticizing the bank at this point, but say they will be trying to get the bank to reimburse the money.

“The only thing that upset me was why can’t we see the [surveillance] tapes so we could see if the guy [scammer] was there and we could get the word out to police right away, and they’re saying it takes two full days,” said the son-in-law.

by Pete McIntyre

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