Reports of grandparent scams tripled in 2022: OPP

Seniors who fall prey to the grandparent scam are victimized twice, police and seniors advocates say.

There’s the financial fallout from the fraud and there’s the emotional toll that accompanies it, they say.

Provincial police and two seniors’ advocacy groups held a joint news conference Wednesday in London to raise awareness of the fraud that’s on the rise across Southwestern Ontario, where a Huron County senior was bilked out of $40,000 this month.

The OPP said it received 348 reports of emergency scams in 2022, up from 108 reports the previous year, representing an increase of 222 per cent. Many of those complaints were from Southwestern Ontario, the OPP said.

Those figures represent a small fraction of the crimes, said police, estimating that only five to 10 per cent of victims report being defrauded to police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

The grandparent scam typically targets seniors, but anyone can become a victim, said Karen Pyatt-Westbrook of the Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario, an organization that provides services and supports for seniors.

“It leaves a lot of these people feeling isolated, feeling victimized, embarrassed,” Pyatt-Westbrook said of victims of the fraud during a news conference at OPP West Region headquarters in London.

“Often we hear that they don’t want to share it with their family members because they don’t want to lose their independence or they don’t want a family member to view them in a different light.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center says thieves used the emergency scam to defraud Ontarians of more than $5.4 million in 2022.

“The senior will usually receive a cold call on a landline,” said Const. Lisa Cruz of the OPP’s serious fraud office.

The caller claims to be a victim’s relative, police officer or lawyer and asks them to send cash to cover a legal fee or bail. In some cases, fraudsters go to victims’ home to pick up the money.

“Throughout this scam, the fraudsters. . . really isolate the victims. They say there’s a gag order in effect and they’re not to discuss the situation with anybody,” Cruz said, adding victims are instructed to pay in cash or cryptocurrency.

How to avoid being scammed

The OPP and seniors agencies say knowledge and communication are keys to avoid falling for the grandparent scam. They recommend:

• talking to loved ones about the scam and its warning signs, such as the sense of urgency and appeal for confidentiality used by scammers. Remind loved ones police will never demand bail money for a family member in distress
• if someone receives a call, they should talk to another family member or trusted friend to verify the information
• if someone receives a call from someone claiming to be a family member in an emergency, they should hang up the phone and contact the family member themselves
• if someone falls victim to a fraud, they should report it to local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center at 1-888-495-8501