'It ended up being $30K': Vancouver senior loses life savings to phone scam
It started with a phone call.
It ended with a 76-year-old Vancouver pensioner losing her life savings.
“I’m at a loss at how he could have tricked me,” said Dianne, a retired nurse who is speaking out with the hopes of preventing other seniors from becoming victims. CTV News has chosen not to publish her last name.
Her ordeal began last month when a man called, saying her nephew was in jail and desperately needed money to get bail.
“There was this voice whispering,” Dianne recalls.
“He said you need to send, I think it was $2,000…I went to UPS and mailed cash, which I should (have) known better,” she said.
Dianne said the calls continued with more urgent appeals for money. Five times she sent money. She thought she was helping a nephew in trouble, but instead had been drawn into a fraudster’s lie.
“It ended up being $30,000 in the end because he kept calling back,” she explained.
The calls only stopped when she ran out of money.
“I said, ‘I don’t have any more money. You’ve got all my money’...I never heard from him again.”
Vancouver police are once again warning the public about this phone scam that preys on vulnerable seniors.
“What usually happens is someone will make a call to somebody advising that their loved one is in some kind of danger, possibly in jail and they need money for bail,” said Const. Tania Visintin.
“If someone is in jail, no police officer, no court attendant, no sheriff will ever call you and ask you for money for bail,” she said.
“If you do get a call like this, it’s a fraud and you need to hang up right away.”
She said some thieves have become bolder, even showing up at a person’s door to collect money.
“Obviously, that’s more concerning for us,” said Visintin who encourages family members to speak with elderly relatives about the scam in an effort to raise awareness.
Police say thieves also target victims by gleaning information about them through social media.
However, Dianne, who doubts she will ever see any of her stolen money again, doesn’t think that’s how she became a target.
She thinks she was picked randomly, simply by answering her phone.
Dianne said she feels distress, regret and fear. She also worries about how she will pay the bills.
“Horrible nightmares now. I never had them before,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.