Hey Grandma, I'm in Trouble: Grandparent Scam on the Rise in Canada Millions of dollars are being stolen from Canadians in what’s been called the grandparent scam. Here’s how it works: The scammer calls, pretending to be a grandchild who is in trouble. They may say they’ve been arrested and need bail money, or they’ve been in a car accident, or are having a problem returning from a foreign country. And they say they need money right away. According to a notice issued by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the grandchild begs the grandparent not to tell their parents they’re in trouble. As a result, the grandparent doesn’t find out until after they’ve sent the money that it was not their grandchild. Often the fraudulent grandchild is crying and talks only briefly before a phony police officer takes the phone and requests that the grandparent pay the bail.
The scammer may request payment via wire transfer or even mailing cash. There have also been reports of fraudulent mobile number list police officers or bail bondsmen going to the victim's home to collect cash in person. The Anti-Fraud Centre calls these “emergency scams” because the scammers can claim to be any member of the family, not just grandparents, but they say that seniors and grandparents are particularly susceptible to these types of scams. Millions of dollars scammed so far this year The grandparent scam is resulting in big losses for older Canadians. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, cases of grandparent and emergency scams have more than doubled since last year.
There have been 841 cases, with 342 victims reporting losses of $3.4 million from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2022. That compares to 380 cases, 115 victims and $1.7 million lost in 2021. The scam isn’t limited to a single province or region. Here is a sampling of some headlines from around the country: Winnipeg police investigating 15 'grandparent scam' reports over last 6 days 80-year-old nearly scammed out of $16,000; West Vancouver police announce arrest Police warn of 'grandparent scams' in Quebec The York Regional Police in Ontario have shared a video where an 81-year-old man tells the story of how he was scammed out of $100,000 by an imposter posing as his grandson.