The Regina Police Services (RPS) has recently received a rush of calls from people who had been targets of “grandparent scams.”
Near the end of March, RPS received seven reported cases of emergency scams over the course of 48 hours.
“A scammer will come on the [phone] line and pretend to be a lawyer or a police officer and tell the grandparents that in order for their grandchild to be released, they must pay thousands of dollars in bail money,” explained Sgt. Angela Pengelly of RPS financial crimes unit.
Pengelly added that in some cases, fraudsters “posed” as police officers, lawyers, or other legal system officials when calling victims. She explained why the scammers are targeting older adults.
“Typically, because using that sense of urgency, they want them to not ask questions or think about what they’re being asked to do,” she said.
“Really, it plays on the emotion of a grandparent wanting to help a loved one in an emergency situation.”
Linda Anderson of Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism (SSM) emphasized how critical it is for seniors and grandparents to become aware of emergency scams.
“When you get that kind of a phone call and you care about your grandchildren, your first reaction is shock, and ‘I want to do something to help. This is terrible, I can’t let this happen,‘” voiced Anderson.
“Those are the reactions you will have, but if you’ve thought about it and you know what might happen, then you will come from a different place.”
Advocacy Centre for the Elderly said there are different methods people can take to prevent being a victim of fraud.
“When you’re getting a phone call from someone who identifies themselves as a grandchild, check the phone number,” shared Bethanie Pascuto, staff litigation lawyer for Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.
“Is that your grandchild’s phone number? If they are talking to you about giving them money, hang up. If it’s an individual who’s identifying themselves as a police officer who has a grandchild in custody, I would say, what’s your badge ID, what station are you working out of?”
Pengelly also explained that officials will never call people requesting to pay for a bail bond as that process is dealt through the court system.
If you receive a call and you’re being told that a bail bondsman will pick up the bail money, if a person is arrested and charged, they will go through the process through the court system and appear before a judge where all of the court documents will be processed through the courthouse,” she explained.
“Such a system for bail does not exist in Canada and there would never be anyone coming to your house to collect money in that way.
On March 26, Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) received approximately 30 calls relating to grandparent scams.
As a result, a 44 year-old woman from Quebec was arrested and is facing multiple charges of fraud over $5,000.
RPS encourages anyone who believes they were victim of this scam to contact their local police detachment.
