Police warn that scammers are once again targeting grandparents. Photo by QNet News
By Rhythm Rathi
BELLEVILLE – A Belleville woman is warning others about her mother being a victim of the grandparent scam nine years ago. The scam is back in the news again after Belleville police sent out a release advising residents to verify information with authorities if they get a phone call from someone claiming to be a relative and asking for money.
Mary Storms, 61, of Belleville, was visiting her mother when she found a big manilla envelope containing cash worth $3000 and a $50 cheque for the express courier fee. When she asked her mother about it, she was horrified to learn what had been going on.
“The first time she sent the money (in 2012) somebody had called from Montreal claiming to be a friend of my nephew i.e. her grandson and saying that they had gone to Montreal and Michael had gotten arrested for something and they needed money for bail,” said Storms.
She added, “(they said) Michael had instructed his friend to call my mother and ask if she could send them some money so he could get out of jail.”
Storms says, this was the first time her mom had sent money to someone and she continued to send money for a couple of years after that before Storms luckily found the envelope.
“She was couriering and couriering the money and paying for the courier. That’s how I found out about it. I happened to be at her house when she had a package for the courier, ” said Storms.
“She sent money to multiple people over the years for different things.”
Storms said her mother did not call Michael to verify because the scammers said that he was in jail and will not be able to talk. Nor was she able to retrieve the money as it was too late by the time they realized that it was a scam.
When Storms found the last package, she felt upset and angry at the same time.
“We started going through her bank records and she showed me the courier receipts and I was like…Oh mom,” she said.
“I had to go out in her driveway and swear very loudly because I never swear in front of my mother… I was so upset.”
“I think they shared her name with others and said that this lady is easily convinced. We think that it was probably over time about $50,000 dollars. That’s a lot of money,” Storms said.
She says that her mother became defensive after finding out the truth and could not believe that this could happen since the scammers sounded very convincing.
Storms says her mother was a good human being and donated to several charities on a regular basis. She also sponsored the kids in Africa and the adopted child program.
“Anybody who had a soft story, she would give her money to.”
Storms’ mother died in 2014. She has a warning for others.
“I have heard of older people who have sent every penny they’ve got and put themselves into hard financial situations. It didn’t happen for my mother, but I think people need to be aware about what is happening with their parents and talk to them about these things.”
In these scams, the callers usually target the older uncles, aunts and grandparents. They indicate that they are from a law enforcement agency and have the person’s grandchild in custody. Then they demand for bail money to get them out. The scammer may follow up by having the victim speak to someone who is pretending to be their grandchild. The person doing the pretending will ask for help and say that they need to send money says Staff Sgt. Mike Kiley of Belleville Police.
“They’re basically preying on their fears that the grandson/daughter is in trouble.”
Kiley says these scams are not new to Belleville and are kind of cyclical.
“Generally it’s international. I don’t believe I have ever heard any local scams that have been traced back to anyone locally.”
Kiley has some advice for Belleville residents.
“Don’t ever be afraid to say no to them, to the pressure tactics, and always check-on with the police in the area. Make those calls. Don’t be afraid to say no right at the moment and do some double checking.”
“The police don’t ask people for money over phone to get people out on bail. That’s not something that ever happens,” he added.
Penny Byrnes, of Napanee, is a community and personal support worker. She takes care of clients who are aging.
She says that she has a client who receives such phone calls once in every two weeks. “It’s very frequent!”
Byrnes spoke about a female client she had about 18 months ago from Prince Edward County who was in her late 80’s.
“I visited her home on a regular basis doing community support work and PSW work. She definitely was showing some signs of dementia,” said Byrnes.
“She had indicated to me a few different times that her grandson was calling requesting money from her and she didn’t know what to do because he had begged her not to tell his parents.”
“He told her… he had spent all his OSAP… so he didn’t have money for rent for the last two months of school and he wanted to buy some books too,” said Byrnes.
Byrnes tried to convince the lady about it being a scam. But the caring grandma ended up transferring about $4,800 through the post office which could not be tracked back.
Byrnes says that a few months later the family gathered at the woman’s house for Canada Day celebrations. The lady asked her grandson if he was doing okay now. He looked puzzled and their conversation revealed that she had fallen for a scam, said Byrnes.
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