Man poses as distressed family member to defraud Kingston woman of 10K: police

Kingston police are asking for the public’s assistance to help find a man they say defrauded a woman out of thousands of dollars.

On Dec. 12, the woman received a call from a man claiming to be her son. Police say the man was in hysterics, claiming he had been arrested for hitting a young girl with his car.

Then, police say another man came on the phone posing as the son’s lawyer. The man allegedly told the mother there was a gag order in place and warned her not to tell anyone about the arrest.

She was then told to transfer $6,000 to an account so that her son could be released in Kingston.

After she sent the money, she apparently received a second call asking for an additional $4,000, claiming the severity of the girl’s injuries required more money.

Kingston police say although the woman successfully sent the first deposit, the bank intervened in the second transaction and stopped the $4,000 from being deposited.

WATCH: Find out your rights if you fall prey to scams

3:52 Find out your rights if you fall prey to scams

Police have released a security image of a man they suspect to be involved in the fraud. The image was caught while he was entering the TD Bank at 562 Montreal Rd. in Ottawa on Dec. 12.

Kingston police are asking anyone with information about the alleged crime to contact Det. Dave Wein at 613-549-4660 ext. 6198 or via email at dwein@kingstonpolice.ca.

Kingston police say that similar scams have been prevalent in Kingston over the last year.

They are advising people to be wary of calls or emails asking for any kind of immediate payment, such as cash, iTunes cards, Bitcoin, etc., for any reason, including claims that a family member was arrested, is in medical distress or in matters of outstanding taxes.