Kingston police make arrest in ‘grandparent scam’

Police in Kingston have made an arrest involving one of the more prominent phone scams making the rounds.

On July 6, police say a victim received a call from someone claiming to be their grandson and that he had been arrested. The phone was then passed to someone else claiming to be a narcotics detective who said the grandson was facing drug charges.

Police say the scammers then asked the victim to withdraw $8,000 in cash and said a courier would be sent to pick up the money.

The victim then called her son, the grandson’s father, and told him about the call. Her son was confused as the grandson was actually home at the time.

The son called the police to make them aware of the situation and agreed to go along with the suspect’s request in hopes of helping make an arrest.

Later that day police attended the lobby and parking lot of the victim’s apartment building. At about 3:25 p.m. the accused walked to the victim’s building, eventually walking up to the complainant, waving to them and taking an envelope.

As he walked away, police made an arrest.

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Police say the accused provided a fake name repeatedly at the scene before eventually giving their real name once at the police station.

A 22-year-old from France was charged with attempted fraud over $5,000 and obstructing police.