Vancouver police hit the streets to warn seniors about surge in scam calls

In the past week, Vancouver police have seen a surge in reports about the so-called "bail money" or "grandchild" scam that targets seniors.

It begins with a phone call from a person pretending to be the victim’s grandchild. They claim they’ve just been arrested, and urgently need money for bail. The caller asks the senior to go to the bank and withdraw cash, which will be picked up by a courier and supposedly used to bail the grandchild out of jail.

“Some people would say, 'How could anyone be caught in this scam?' The fact is, lots of people are,” said Clair Macgougan with the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre.

"(Scammers are) preying on the victims’ love for family members and fear that a loved one has been put in a difficult situation,” said Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison.

“And all too often, we are seeing people willing to hand over the money, no questions asked, because they want to help that family member.”

In just the past week, Addison says, a dozen seniors have been victimized.

“They have lost thousands of dollars collectively, and that’s a huge impact on people," he said. "It’s a huge impact on families, people who are on fixed incomes, and we don’t want to see it happen anymore.”

The VPD believes the best way to combat the scam is to alert seniors directly. So, on Saturday, a team of community policing volunteers fanned out along East Hastings Street to hand out scam alert fliers and speak to residents.

“We know that we have the most success when we get people talking about it, when we get people talking to their family members, to their neighbours, to the community members about it. Really, that’s what we are trying to do today,” said Addison.

When the crime is reported, Vancouver police can sometimes stop the money transfer and catch the culprits.

“We were able to thwart a case like this just last week," Addison said. "An elderly person handed over a significant amount of money because she thought her grandson had been arrested. Hours later, she got a phone call from her grandson, and she pieced it together. They were able to contact us. We were able to intercept the money, which had been sent by courier.”

But all too often, the crime goes unreported.

“What we hear from some seniors is they are embarrassed to report it or they are fearful," said Macgougan. "Some people just aren’t sure about where to report things. Sometimes they won’t even tell their family members, so that’s why we really want to get out the word out."

Addison is encouraging everyone to speak to the elderly people in their lives about how the scam works, adding: “We don’t want to see anybody else losing money, we don’t want to see anybody else becoming victims to this crime.”