CALGARY- A well-known scam that preys on seniors is making the rounds again—and the timing is no coincidence.
The so-called ‘grandparent scam’ sees thieves phone someone, pretending to be their child or grandchild. They say they are in an emergency situation and need money sent to them.
Jean Wolfenden fell victim to it, after a caller claiming to be her son who lives in Ontario told her he’d been in a crash, and needed money or he’d be put in jail.
“I thought it was my son, because it sounded like my son,” Wolfenden remembers. “He said ‘I’m in trouble,’ he’d been out drinking and got into a car crash and they were holding him at the police station and wouldn’t release him.”
Five minutes later, a man claiming to be a lawyer called her with directions as to where to wire $2,400 for an insurance payment.
The next day, her daughter got in contact with her brother, and found out their mother had been scammed.
“Somebody’s got to stand up, you know, and just say watch out,” Wolfenden says. “Just don’t take everybody at their word. It’s awful to think that way, but that’s the way you have to live now.”
The Better Business Bureau says the grandparent scam is even more common during Christmas.
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“This time of year it’s very effective, because so many people are on the road,” explains Sandra Crozier-McKee. “Students are out of school, a lot of people are travelling.”
Most are random, computer generated calls, but others may be linked to social media sites—meaning they have names.
If you receive a similar phone call, don’t volunteer any personal information. People are also being asked to warn their elderly parents about the scam.
Click here for more information about the signs of the scam.
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