Vancouver police are warning about a spike in the number of lottery scams duping seniors out of their life savings as four B.C. residents face fraud and forgery charges.

Investigators say five reported cases have robbed tens of thousands of dollars from elderly Americans this year.

At a press conference Friday, Det. Linda Grange shared upsetting similarities between the targeted people.

"Something that's common between all of these files that's really, really sad is that generally speaking, there is some kind of illness, some kind of dementia setting in," Grange said.

In March, Vancouver police learned of a case involving an 89-year-old woman from Hillsborough, California who wired $70,000 to a Vancouver bank account. The victim of a telemarketing lottery scam, she was told she had won almost $20 million from the Australian Government Lottery and needed to deposit money into a secret Swiss bank account to obtain the so-called winnings. After she sent the money she never heard from the callers again.

Nazifa Raza, 27, and Saheem M. Raza M., 39, of have Vancouver have both been charged with fraud over $5,000 and forgery. Fareed M. Raza, 38, of Vancouver has been charged with forgery.

This month, a similar scam targeted a 76-year-old from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The man sent nearly $15,000 to an address in Richmond to supposedly cover taxes on a prize won from Publisher's Clearing House. After no one delivered a prize, he called Publisher's Clearing House and was told he was a victim of a scam.

Richard Williams, 30, of Surrey, has since been charged with mail fraud over $5,000 in connection to the scam.

Police are investigating three other similar cases affecting elderly people in the United States.

Grange says seniors are often too ashamed to tell someone they have been scammed.

"In all of the files that I've investigated, the elderly victims are really terrified of going to their families, because now they've given away their money and they're embarrassed," she said.

Vancouver police offer a few hints that may reveal a loved one has been the target of a scam:

  • notepads and pieces of paper around the house with phone numbers and information
  • receiving a lot of calls and there is secrecy surrounding them
  • a shortage of money and bills not being paid
  • an unusual or excessive amount of magazines (subscriptions) or items coming in the mail