It has two names: the Emergency Scam and the Grandparent Scam.
Different name, but it’s the same result. And on Tuesday, Kelowna RCMP issued a warning after an elderly Kelowna resident was conned out of thousands of dollars.
Police say the resident, a mother in her early 70s, answered a fraudulent overseas call in August. The man on the other end claimed to be her adult son. He said he was in legal trouble and that he urgently needed money, because he had gotten into a motor vehicle accident and injured a youth.
“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,” said Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey.
Police said the woman “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.”
RCMP added that scammers often search social media pages, websites and family genealogy sites for information they can use to trick victims. Police said in some cases, victims will unknowingly provide con artists with personal information.
For more information on these scams, and other common scams, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
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