Fraudsters are still calling Toronto senior citizens and pretending to be their grandchildren to extort money, police said. About 1 crore dollars were stolen last year through such fraud.
A public advisory was issued on Friday regarding the appalling fraud. It calls for vigilance in the manner in which senior citizens are lured into the trap of fraud.
In a news release, officials said anyone who receives such a call is advised to contact the police.
According to data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC), $9.2 million was lost across the country in 2022 to so-called grandparent fraud. In 2021 where the amount was 24 lakh dollars. The majority of these frauds occurred in Ontario. In Ontario alone, more than $5.4 million has been stolen through such fraud.
CAFC and National Cybercrime Coordination Center Director General Chris Lynam said law enforcement agencies and stakeholders continue to work together to stop and investigate these types of criminals. We have sought public assistance to secure the lives of these senior citizens. We warn them of such scams and encourage them to report such incidents to police. This one conversation can be life changing.
Police say, in this type of scam, someone usually gets a phone call from someone who identifies themselves as a grandchild. When they call, they usually say that they are in legal trouble. Then they handed over the phone to another person identified as police or lawyer. Then they demanded money in exchange for the release of their relatives.
Police said the victim was asked to hand over the money to a carrier. Those carriers go to the victim’s house and collect the money. Another important thing is that they are asked not to tell anyone else about this incident.
