'Grandparent scams' increasing in Quebec and across the country
'Grandparent scams' increasing in Quebec and across the country
Quebecers lost $732,000 from grandparent scams in 2022, ranking third in the country behind Ontario and Alberta.
With the phenomenon rising in Canada, the RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) will hold a fraud prevention campaign between Feb. 6 and 10 to raise awareness.
Last year, Canadians lost $530 million in frauds, an increase of almost 40 per cent from the $380 million stolen in 2021.
According to CAFC communications officer Jeff Horncastle, both the number of victims and the amounts stolen continue to grow.
In 2021, the CAFC processed complaints from 323 victims; a year later, 1,1000 people came forward to report scams.
The CAFC estimates that only five to 10 per cent of fraud victims report it, suggesting even more astronomical losses.
"Grandparent" scams alone are estimated to have stolen over $9.2 million in Canada, a significant increase from $2.4 million in 2021.
Over half of these losses (5.4 million) occurred in Ontario, followed by $1.1 million in Alberta. Next is Quebec, followed by British Columbia ($322,000) and Manitoba ($313,000).
In these scams, fraudsters pose as a family member, typically a grandchild, or as legal official or police offiver representing them. They claim that money is needed for some kind of emergency, such as bail.
To tackle the issue, the RCMP will share tips, newsletters and social media posts throughout the week to raise awareness of this type of fraud.
Police say anyone who knows a senior at risk of being targeted should talk to them about it and explain what to do if they receive such a call. The CAFC recommends establishing a code word to verify the authenticity of the individual on the line.
Any victim of fraud is advised to report the crime to their local police department and the centre at 1-888-495-8501 or online, even if no financial loss has been incurred.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 5, 2023.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
The rate of snow and rain falling in the Maritimes will pick up late Thursday afternoon into evening as a weather system makes its way across the region.
The new provincial budget features items specific to southwestern Ontario, including a new English public elementary school in London, Ont. that will serve 556 students and include 88 licensed childcare spaces.
A young Strathroy, Ont. man believes there's a promising way forward in the effort to fight his disease. But, he's being told, right now, that path isn't open to him. Friends and family are stepping up to try and make a case for Kyle McPhee to receive immunotherapy treatments.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
When a former detective with the Vancouver Police Department discovered photos of his home were being used in a rental scam, he decided to start his own investigation.
After a year-and-a-half without, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) says it’s narrowing in on hiring a permanent chief medical officer of health.
When the permit to construct a replacement span for the Ambassador Bridge expired in the summer of 2022, many thought that would bring an end to a 20-year saga of boarded up homes in the city’s west end.
A recent report from the province’s privacy commissioner says the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (MACSI) failed to take appropriate steps after patient treatment files were discovered in a recycling bin.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Ottawa on a foggy Thursday evening, kicking off a whirlwind two-day visit to the capital. Ottawa police and the city of Ottawa have warned residents and visitors will see an increased police presence across the downtown core, and there will be "significant traffic and transit disruptions" during the visit.
An alleged victim of a former staff member of Legacy Christian Academy can now be identified after she successfully petitioned in court to have a publication ban lifted.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s provincial budget, school divisions in Saskatchewan were expecting funding levels to increase, with the province repeatedly touting its $1 billion surplus.
