York Regional Police say an elderly man who fell victim to a “grandparent scam” lost almost $100,000 in a scheme that happened between March and May.
Police said they have released a video with the victim on the scam detailing the events to help “raise awareness to these types of frauds in the community and prevent others from becoming targets.”
Using a pseudonym, 81-year-old “Nicky” said his wife first got a phone call from a person she thought was her grandson, police said.
The grandson had claimed he had been arrested while being a passenger in a friend’s car that was stopped by Toronto police for speeding. He also told the grandmother that he didn’t know it contained illegal drugs and a gun, investigators said.
Then, police said a second person claiming to be an RCMP officer gained the trust of the couple over the course of two months and convinced them to make four separate payments to help their grandson.
“We didn’t think of it being not true. And so, with all that emotion, we decided that, yes, we would help him,” Nicky said in the video released by York Regional Police where he recounts the events to investigators.
“He was more like a son to us than a grandson.”
Nicky went on to describe the events and that he was under a “gag” order and was not allowed to speak to anyone about the incident.
Following the two months, Nicky said he called his grandson and asked him a question relating to the arrest and the drugs in the car to which his grandson had replied that he has never been pulled over.
“I got this really uneasy feeling,” Nicky said. “My immediate response was ‘OK, I see we are being scammed,’ … and I had this real sinking feeling that this is a scam,” Nicky said.
Investigators said that recovering lost funds through fraud is “extremely rare” but through this investigation and with cooperation from financial institutions, officers have been able to recover about $16,000 so far.
“Nicky is one of many York Region residents who have been the target of fraudsters in 2022,” police said.
More than 50 reports of “grandparent scams” have been received by York Regional Police in this year alone, police said, a 100 per cent increase so far from 2021.
“Since 2019, victims have suffered collective losses nearing $1 million and this worsening trend is of great concern to the police and the community,” police said.
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