The acting talents of an 86-year-old woman and the vigilance of a credit union employee enabled Sûreté du Québec police to arrest two fraudsters on Tuesday afternoon in Acton Vale. , in Montérégie.
The victim in this case came very close to being scammed out of several thousand dollars, as part of a “grandparents” type fraud, one of the most used schemes by scammers.
Tuesday morning, the 86-year-old grandmother receives a call from an individual who introduces himself as a lawyer.
The latter mentions to the woman that his grandson was involved in a road accident, that he injured a pregnant woman and that the life of the unborn baby is threatened.
The so-called lawyer asks the grandmother to post bail for her grandson so that he can regain his freedom.
The amount to be paid: $6,250, in “denominations of $100”, warns the lawyer.
The problem is that the man on the phone is not a lawyer and never has been. He is an unscrupulous fraudster who wants to defraud the eldest by giving her very specific instructions on how to pay her grandson’s bail.
Worried, the octogenarian goes to a credit union to make a withdrawal.
Quick-witted, the employee of the financial institution questions the woman on the reasons for her withdrawal and since she strongly suspects that her client is being targeted by a scam, she prefers to refuse to give her the amount claimed.
Listen to Maxime Deland’s miscellaneous chronicle broadcast live every day at 10:25 a.m. via QUB-radio:
Once back home, the octogenarian is visited by her daughter, who immediately contacts the police after hearing her mother’s story.
These are also in the victim when the fraudster communicates again with the 86-year-old woman.
Playing the comedy wonderfully, the grandmother managed to make believe that she had the $6,250 in hand and that she was ready to hand over the money.
A 19-year-old woman then came to the woman’s home to collect the money, but was instead greeted by Sûreté du Québec officers, who handcuffed her.
Other police guarding the area arrested a 23-year-old man in a vehicle parked near the address.
The duo were released on a promise to appear at a later date.
“Thanks to the vigilance of all those involved, two people were arrested before causing other victims,” summarized Sergeant Valérie Beauchamp, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec.
Call for vigilance
The story of this Acton Vale grandmother is not uncommon: in recent weeks, the Sûreté du Québec says it has received “several reports” concerning “grandparent” type fraud in the province. Each time, it is seniors who are targeted by criminals.
“Fraudsters use a variety of schemes to achieve their ends and extort money from their victims. They take advantage of the vulnerability of certain elderly people to put pressure on them. That’s why you have to make sure you always do the necessary checks before trusting anyone, ”said the spokesperson for the SQ.
Prevention tips:
-Never give money to a stranger or to a person whose identity you have not verified;
-If an individual claims to act on behalf of an organization, contact the organization directly;
-Never divulge personal information to an individual who cannot prove his legitimacy;
-When someone is too insistent or even insolent (for example: he demands your answer immediately), do not trust him;
-Call the parents, another family member or friends of the person to verify the validity of the story presented to you.