That includes more than a dozen reports in less than a week in the provincial capital, with losses of about $100,000. In grandparent scams, a person calls an elderly person, claiming to be a grandchild or other relative who is in serious legal trouble and needs money immediately, Winnipeg Police Const. Jay Murray said at a news conference Thursday. “We believe these scams are being perpetrated by organized groups. They are not fly by night. There has been an increase in calls here in Winnipeg,” he said. Fraud is on the rise and other parts of the province and Canada are also being affected, he said. In the past six days, there have been 15 reports of grandparent or emergency scams in Winnipeg, Murray said. The caller sounds desperate and even cries, she said. The person sometimes uses a first name and says the request is urgent. Sometimes they say a gag order has been issued by a judge, so they can’t discuss the matter with anyone, including other family members or their bank. Winnipeg police Const. Jay Murray urges anyone affected by grandparent scams to report it. (CBC) Sometimes the phone goes to another actor who claims to be a lawyer and can be seen as very professional. The victim is instructed to inform the bank that the money will be used for home repairs or something similar. Victims who respond by taking money are told a bondsman will visit their home to collect the cash. The amount of money scammers ask for varies from person to person — it can be hundreds or thousands of dollars. “The scammer will probably just pick up on how the conversation is going. If they feel like they’re going to be successful, they might be inclined to ask for more,” Murray said. If the scam is successful, the person may try to get more money from the victim in the following days.
Getting past the cheaters
Brandon police also issued a warning Wednesday on Twitter about grandparent scams. Kelly Anderson, who lives in Souris, just southwest of Brandon, said her husband, Gerald, was almost the victim of a grandparent scam Wednesday morning. A young man called them and said, “Hey grandpa,” but didn’t give his name and eventually tricked Gerald into saying his grandson’s name, Anderson said. “He went on to tell my husband he had an accident in Brandon, the airbags had deployed and he had hit a pregnant woman and he was facing two charges and needed $9,000 to get him out,” she told CBC News. on Thursday. THE GRANDPA SCAM shows up again in Brandon.Talk to your friends and family about it, they might not know. pic.twitter.com/pi2znWRGX1 —@BrandonPolice When Anderson’s husband asked the person he believed to be his 14-year-old grandson why he hadn’t contacted his mother or father, the operator had no answer. Eventually the scammer called and asked if the couple could come up with less. At that point, Anderson’s husband said he was going to call his grandson’s father, and the person hung up. Anderson posted a message on Facebook to warn people in her friend group about the scam. “There are so many seniors in this community who would believe in such a call,” he said. But Winnipegger Leonard Bakalinsky, 89, outsmarted one of the scammers a few months ago. He got a call around 7:30 one morning from a person who was crying and said, “Grandpa!” This raised alarm bells for Bakalinski – his grandchildren call him zayde, a Yiddish word for “grandfather”. Leonard Bakalinski, 89, was targeted by scammers. He says he knew something was wrong when the caller called him “grandpa,” while his real grandchildren refer to him by the Yiddish term “zayde.” (Trevor Brine/CBC) The scammer prompted him to say one of his grandson’s names – Daniel – and then received that ID. Like the call Anderson received, the scammer said he had been in a car accident and needed money to get out of trouble. The real Daniel usually drives to work at that time of day, so Bakalinski was worried. But things took a turn for the worse when he told the caller he was going to call Daniel’s mum before sending any money. “That’s when things cooled off,” Bakalinski said. The caller objected and eventually hung up. Bakalinski advises any other grandparent who thinks they’re being scammed to do what he and Anderson did — tell the caller they’ll contact the child’s parents first.
Warning signs
Murray said it’s important to be aware of several things to prevent these scams from happening. First of all, the police and courts never send someone to someone’s house to collect money. You will also never be told to lie to the bank about why you are withdrawing money. Scammers will pressure people into acting quickly before they have time to think about what they are doing or agreeing to. It is important to speak to a trusted person before giving out any personal information or money, especially if it is an unsolicited call. Police are urging people to talk to their older relatives about the scam to protect them. Murray is asking anyone who is a victim of a suspected grandparent scam to report it to police. “It can be very upsetting when someone realizes they’ve fallen for a scam,” he said. “The reality is that many people fall for scams every day, unfortunately. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Reporting the scam can potentially help recover any lost money and can help prevent others from falling victim, he said. More from CBC Manitoba:
