Three incidents reported to Grey County OPP July 5 have prompted a public warning regarding attempted scams in the area.?This issue was visited before when the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in cooperation with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre issued a release last year to warn people about widespread reports of this scam. Three incidents reported to Grey County OPP and a similar number reported to?South Bruce OPP this week led to the localized release.
Also known as the “Emergency Scam” the modus operandi for this scam is a telephone contact to a potential victim while posing as a family member or friend in urgent need of cash. Often the scenario involves an accident, arrest, hospitalization or imprisonment with a request that cash be sent through a money transfer company, such as Western Union or Money Gram or in the form of a postal money order. In recent variations the messages have been sent via email from hijacked email accounts.?In the local instances, elderly females reported receiving telephone calls between 9 am and 12 noon on July 5. In all cases the phone connection seemed poor which made voice recognition more difficult.
The callers identified themselves as a grandson, using a name blurted out by the intended victim as they attempted to decipher who was on the line.  Two of the woman receiving the calls realized something was amiss and reported it, but a third actually went to the post office and was ready to send close to $2,000 to the location provided. Fortunately an alert clerk at the Meaford Post Office thought it seemed fishy and counselled the elderly woman to go home and contact the police.
“Anyone receiving a call like this should be suspicious and take steps to verify the identity of the caller and the probability of their story,” says Constable Steven Starr, Grey County OPP Community Services/Media Relations officer. “Don’t hesitate to get a second opinion and if in doubt contact police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)”?The CAFC was formerly known as Phonebusters.
It is a joint effort involving the OPP, RCMP and Competition Bureau of Canada. There website is www.phonebusters.com and they can be contacted toll free at 1-888-495-8501.