Five men accused of scamming hundreds of Quebec’s senior citizens were at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday for a bail hearing.

The men allegedly headed a crime ring that ran what came to be known as the grandparents scam. The plot involved placing phone calls to senior citizens, claiming to be relatives in trouble with the law who needed money to bail themselves out.

“This was a big organization, they were working every day, seven days a week, trying to get victims’ money from them,” said Cmdr. Michel Leduc of the SPVM’s economic crimes unit.

Susan Sasson was among the group’s targets. Though she never fell for the scam, she said she could understand how others would.

“I could just imagine if grandparents are called, because the initial thing they’re probably feeling is panic. You’re panicking because right away, you’re thinking about the safety of your grandchild,” she said. “These people that do it are really, really evil. No morals at all.”

Last year, CTV Montreal spoke with Lois Reid, a Longueuil resident who was targeted. In a phone call, a man claiming to be her nephew told her he was in police custody and needed $1,200 to get out. Reid grew suspicious when she wasn’t sure the voice on the phone was that of her nephew.

While they failed with Reid and Sasson, the scammers succeed with at least 500 other victims, 350 of them in Montreal. The victims are between the ages of 53 and 96-years-old and lost between $1,000 and $100,000 each, for total losses of $2.5 million.

At the hearing, specialized police officers were present to make sure victims were supported. Officers said the scam was “a disaster” for many of them.

Some seniors are merely embarrassed, while others suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress or were left destitute.

“It caused financial difficulties and even, for some of them, they lost all their savings and it changed their way of living,” said Victims Aid Centre spokesperson Jenny Charest.

Police advised seniors who receive suspicious phone calls to ask questions, withhold personal information and to call family or police for help.