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Kelowna RCMP warn of grandparent scam

A Kelowna woman was recently the victim of the scam
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Kelowna RCMP building on Richter Street - Steven Lin

RCMP are once again cautioning the general public to be aware of the emergency scam, otherwise known as the grandparent scam, after a Kelowna area mother was deceived out of thousands of dollars.

In Aug. a local Kelowna resident answered a fraudulent overseas telephone call, on the other end of the line was someone claiming to be her adult son. The stranger, who sounded desperate and in distress, told her that he was in legal trouble and that he urgently needed money. The con-artist claimed to have been involved in a motor vehicle collision, where he injured a youth in a foreign country.

RCMP always recommend that the public ask for help from another member of the family or a trustworthy friend.

“Despite this mother’s gut instinct to consult and involve another family member, in this case the woman’s daughter, the fraudster pled with the victim to keep the information a secret,” said Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey.

RELATED: RCMP watchdog called in after incident in Kelowna

“The Kelowna mother, a woman in her early 70’s, answered a total of seven calls and sadly transferred over $10,500 in Canadian funds to the con-artist, to support the costs he claimed were associated to legal fees, impound lot fees and accommodation to name a few,” said O’Donaghey.

The public should be mindful that these scammers often mine open or public social media pages, online websites or even family genealogy sites for the information they need to trick their victims. In some cases, the victims will unknowingly provide the suspect with personal information over the phone.

For more information on the grandparent scam, emergency scam and many other common scams visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.

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