West Vancouver police say they have arrested a fraudster running a fake-bail scam with the help of a quick thinking senior.
Police say someone called the 84-year-old woman on Valentine’s Day presenting themselves as a police officer and claiming the woman’s friend had been arrested and needed $15,000 in bail money.
The scammer said he would come to the woman’s house the next day to collect the cash.
Police say the woman became suspicious and told her son about the incident. He then reported it to police.
West Vancouver police say they then worked with the woman and her son to arrange to have the suspect pick up the cash on Feb. 15.
When the 31-year-old Vancouver man arrived at her house, he was arrested.
“This woman did absolutely the right thing by telling her son about the strange phone call,” Const. Kevin Goodmurphy said in a media release.
“Rest assured that our investigators will do everything they can to ensure this man is held accountable for his despicable actions.”
The incident shares the hallmarks of a string of scams reported by police around the Lower Mainland in recent weeks.
Last month, Vancouver police said they were investigating more than a dozen incidents since Jan. 11 alone, with fraudsters regularly asking seniors for five-figure dollar amounts.