’Significant’ cash stolen from rural seniors in grandparent scams

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This article was published 01/11/2024 (333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seniors are being warned by RCMP to be vigilant after several people in southern Manitoba were defrauded of thousands of dollars apiece by someone claiming to be a lawyer for their grandchild.

RCMP said Friday that a senior in Portage la Prairie and another in MacGregor received separate calls Thursday from the alleged lawyer who knew their grandchild’s name, claimed they were in jail and needed money for bail.

In Portage, the scammer went to the victim’s door to pick up the money. In the MacGregor case, a meeting was arranged at a location in town.

A day earlier, seniors in Minnedosa and Kleefeld received similar calls. And on Oct. 24, a senior in East St. Paul also fell for the scheme, handing over cash after the scam artist drove them to the bank to make a withdrawal.

RCMP said they don’t know if any or all of the cases are related.

Sadie Tait, a councillor representing MacGregor in the Municipality of North Norfolk, said she heard about the incident Friday.

“It’s very sad to see that people are being scammed in our community,” said Tait. “They are even meeting with people in person, that’s the scary part. I don’t know who it was, but because there have been previous incidents in Portage, our seniors support program has had sessions to help seniors avoid being scammed. We’ve been proactive.

“I feel really bad for this person.”

Manitoba RCMP financial crimes unit Const. Ricky Perkins said most of the grandparent scams reported to police involve money, gift card or cryptocurrency transfers after victims receive phone calls from somewhere else in the world.

But Perkins said because these scams involved in-person contact and cash changed hands, there is a better chance of an arrest.

“These aren’t what I call metaverse frauds — these are people on the ground in Canada,” he said.

“We have a chance here. But, the best way to stop these frauds is to prevent them from happening in the first place.”

Perkins said between $5,000 and $8,000 was taken in each of the incidents; one victim was hit twice and lost approximately $11,000.

He said the hope is that someone — a bank teller, for example — might recognize what’s going on and intervene.

“I was at a conference where they said a person had lost $300,000,” said Perkins. “She went to the same convenience store and was taking out $900 at a time from the ATM for 38 days in a row — 30 withdrawals a day of $900.

“You’d think that someone at the store would have said, ‘What are you doing?’ But many people don’t want to make it their business.”

Portage la Prairie RCMP Const. Larry Neufeld said criminals are using information obtained through various means, such as social media, to deceive and steal significant amounts of money from senior citizens.

“The fact that they are showing up at homes and even driving with the victims speaks to their ever-increasing confidence in carrying out these scams,” Neufeld said in a statement.

RCMP warn the public to never give money to unknown individuals, and if a family members calls asking for money in an emergency situation, hang up and call them back using a phone number previously saved.

Perkins said another piece of advice is to ask the caller for a number to call them back.

“Ninety-nine out of 100 times when you ask for a call-back number, they will hang up,” he said.

“These are scams. Lawyers don’t call people saying you need to send money. Police don’t, either. When someone gets a call like that, someone is trying to scam them.”

RCMP are asking anyone with information to contact the local RCMP detachment, Manitoba Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or manitobacrimestoppers.com.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca