At least three elderly citizens of Saanich have been targeted in a recent attempt to defraud them out of money.  All three were hit with a similar story known as the Emergency Scam.

The elderly person received a call from a person either saying they were their grandson or a lawyer representing their grandson.  They were given a story of woe.  Two of the stories had the grandson in jail down east while one had the grandson being involved in a serious car crash.  Each story was given with great urgency and requested that money be sent immediately to help get the grandson out of jail or pay lawyer’s fees.  The amount of money asked for was upwards of $3000 in two of the cases.

Thankfully no money was sent by any of the targeted victims who, along with care givers and bank staff, alerted to the suspicious nature of the request before it was too late.  In these cases, the victim’s real grandsons were all OK and not in jail down east.

Police believe that these three cases are not the only ones happening.  “Most scams like this, work based on the statistical likelihood that some people will send money.  Criminals will target as many people as they possibly can to increase their profit.” says Sgt. Julie Fast, Public Information Officer for the Saanich Police.

To help reduce the risk of being victimized in this scam, here are some helpful tips:

• Talk to your adult children and vice versa.  Decide on how you will financially support each other, including any grandchildren.  If the plan is that your grandchildren will never call you for money, they you can easily recognize a scam like this.
• Have a trusted family member, friend or professional monitor your bank statements.  Two sets of eyes is better than one when it comes to noticing suspicious withdrawals or transactions on your accounts.
• Don’t agree to send money unless you initiate the call.  If someone calls asking for money, saying they are a relative and are in urgent need of your help, tell them that you will call them back.  Do this before agreeing to anything.  It will give you time to confirm a story of woe with other family members or to get a second opinion.
• Never send cash.  It is untraceable and when it’s gone, it’s gone.   A cheque is safer because it is traceable, it can be cancelled and the receiver of it physically needs to take it somewhere to turn it into cash.
• After receiving a suspicious call, dial *57 right after hanging up.  It will log the call with Telus and can then be retrieved by police down the road.  Once this is done, call police to report it.

For more information on scams and how to prevent being the victim, check out the link on our webite “Don’t Get Scammed”.