Police are issuing a warning that seniors are being targeted by con artists.
Two seniors recently approached police with the same story - that a young man claiming to be their grandson called to say he was in a Montreal jail and needed bail money.
The phone is handed off to another person claiming to be the grandson's lawyer who provides details of how and where to wire the money.
"Both victims wired cash, only to find out later that their loved ones were never arrested and never in Montreal," said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass.
Criminals often target elders for fraud attempts, and this scenario has been played out in this community and across Canada in past incidents as the thieves prey on emotional connections to loved ones.
So popular is this sort of scam that the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has it currently listed on their website as the "scam of the week," Douglass said.
To report a fraud or for more information on other fraudulent scams, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre.ca (www.centreantifraude.ca).
