Grandson Telephone Scam In Nanaimo Again

 Local Resident Nearly Out $5,000

The grandson scam has surfaced again in Nanaimo and if it wasn’t for a Nanaimo Mountie an elderly male would be out almost $5000 dollars.

Yesterday , the Island District Nanaimo Operational Communications Centre received numerous phone calls from persons who were solicited for funds from their “grandson” . Most refused to believe it ,while others simply hung up. Some decided to share their story with neighbors and friends. Unfortunately for one Nanaimo man, his story didn’t start off so well.

The seventy nine year old man received an early morning long distance telephone call from a man claiming to be his grandson. The caller said he was in jail and desperately needed $4800 dollars wired immediately to his location. The caller was convincing and shortly afterwards the victim received another phone call from a second male claiming to be the grandson’s lawyer. This was enough to convince our victim the story was legit and his grandson needed his help.

The elderly male drove to his banking institution, withdrew $4800 from his account then had it wired to his grandsons location. As luck would have it ,while driving home from the bank , he heard a report on a local radio station about this exact scam. He quickly realized he had been duped and called the police to report it .

Cst Martin Kortas of the Nanaimo RCMP received the complaint and realized if he could contact Western Union soon enough, he might be able to stop the transfer. Cst Kortas called the company in Ontario and sure enough the employee he spoke with told him the transfer had not gone through yet and she would gladly cancel it. Cst Kortas is now following up with Toronto Police Dept.

“This officer has over the years investigated many similar stories from various victims and often all he can do is console them over their losses. Today the tables turned and he was able to make a difference in someones life. This elderly gentleman was extremely grateful for Cst Kortas’s efforts and promised to be leery next time his “grandson” calls” said Constable Gary O’Brien, media spokesperson for the Nanaimo RCMP.