Grandparent Scam Claims Another Victim

By Corey Fischer

Oct 2, 2018 | 3:17 PM

RCMP are again reminding people to be aware of the Grandparent Scam, after a Kelowna area mother was deceived out of thousands of dollars.

Police say the woman in her 70’s transferred $10,500 to a con artist in August after thinking she was talking to her adult son over the phone.

The scammer told her he was involved in a motor vehicle crash where he injured a young person in a foreign country and urgently needed money.

Police say people should always ask for help from another family member or trusted friend if that situation develops.

“Despite this mother’s gut instinct to consult and involve another family member, in this case the woman’s daughter, the fraudster pled with the victim to keep the information a secret,” says RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, spokesman for the Kelowna RCMP.

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“The Kelowna mother answered a total of seven calls and sadly transferred over $10,500 in Canadian funds to the con-artist, to support the costs he claimed were associated to legal fees, impound lot fees and accommodation to name a few,” adds O’Donaghey.

The public should be mindful that these scammers often mine open or public social media pages, online websites or even family genealogy sites for the information they need to trick their victims. In some cases, the victims will unknowingly provide the suspect with personal information over the phone.

by Corey Fischer