14 arrests in grandparent fraud case
Fourteen Montrealers were arrested Thursday in what’s described as an organized crime syndicate of grandparent fraudsters. This ruse involves phoning older people, posing as a younger relative, and asking for money to get out of trouble in a remote place. They can count on enough seniors being unfamiliar with their young relatives’ voices and travels that some will send quite large amounts.
In other news of Montreal-based fraudsters, a man was sentenced to ten years in a U.S. prison in a psychic fraud that netted millions.
Meezly 10:18 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
My friend’s retired dad was a victim of this scheme in B.C. and was bilked about 40K! Sure, he probably wasn’t as sharp as he once was, but quite cognizant for his age. The criminals were fairly sophisticated and had someone pose as his 13 yo grandson and someone else as a cop. The grandson lives in the same city, so they see each other semi-regularly, so the voices must sounded similar enough. The criminals also knew enough about his personal details to make the act convincing, so some identity theft must’ve been involved. They also played on his psychological weaknesses. My friend’s dad honestly thought he was the one who could help his grandson by doing this. When he withdrew money at the bank, the bankers even asked him “this sounds really sketchy, are you sure you want to do this?” (and my friend’s dad was even a former bank manager!). It was pretty devastating as it was a big chunk of my friend’s parents retirement nest egg.
Kate 10:41 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
Wow. An ex bank manager and in the same town. Those crooks must have some intense grasp of applied psychology.
Meezly 11:48 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
I think many elder folk feel irrelevant, forgotten and/or useless, and the criminals play on those insecurities. Maybe it’s a ploy that works better with men? So when an urgent situation arises and they’re given an opportunity to be “the one” who can save their relative, they’ll take it.