Nearly $60K lost to 'bail money' scams targeting seniors this week, Vancouver police warn
Canadian cash is shown: (iStock)
A rise in "bail money" scams targeting seniors has prompted warnings from police in both Vancouver and Port Moody this week.
The Vancouver Police Department took to Twitter to sound the alarm after it says a total of $57,000 was lost to these types of scams since Monday.
In an email to CTV News, Const. Tania Visintin says officers responded to nine incidents across the city this week and that the suspect description is different in each file.
"We really want to get the message out," she says. "We know a lot of seniors aren't on social media, so we are hoping people speak to their parents or grandparents so we can prevent this."
According to the VPD, the scam — which tricks seniors into believing their grandchild or another family member is in need of bail money — has become one of the top 10 scams in North America.
"Victims are losing between $8,000 and $15,000 each time they are targeted, with some victims defrauded multiple times," reads a tweet by the VPD.
"Scammers prey on seniors, counting on their love and concern for their grandchildren, or neices and nephews."
Last week, an 87-year-old was tricked into sending $3,500 by courier to an individual pretending to be her grandson and claiming to be in jail.
Fortunately in that case, Vancouver police were able to intercept the package, and return the money to the victim.
The Port Moody Police Department also posted a warning on social media this week after it says it's seeing a resurgence of bail money scams.
Const. Sam Zacharias tells CTV News that the warning comes after a senior was almost scammed out of $9,000 on Wednesday.
"(The victim) had received a call from a person asking for cash to bail out his grandson, who he claimed was in custody for a drug-related offence," he says.
When the senior went to his bank to take out the money, the bank teller flagged the withdrawal and stopped him. He then contacted his family, who confirmed his grandson was safe.
"These scams are very sophisticated. They may call a victim in a very emotional state — catching the victim off guard — sometimes even using the real name of their grandchild. Then they typically transfer the phone to someone claiming to be a police officer or a lawyer," Zacharias says, adding that police will never call anyone asking for money.
Anyone who receives a call like this is asked to hang up and report it to their local police immediately.
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