Two men are in custody but police in the South Shore say they suspect others are still at large as they investigate a dozen so-called “grandparent scams” dating from November.
The arrests were made after a woman in Longueuil came forward after being victimized.
Another woman, Lois Reed, said she got a call from a man who pretended to be her nephew. The man said he was in Ottawa and was in trouble after being arrested for drunk driving and needed $2,200 to be released.
Reed was suspicious and told the man she needed to call her bank. Instead, she called her actual nephew who told her he was fine. She then called the police.
“The sound of his voice, I wasn’t too sure and also I could sense there was something, I guess,” she said. “It happened to me before a few years back so it made me (suspicious). You don’t give money over the phone.”
Some victims have lost as much as $10,000, according to police.
In May, investigators found surveillance camera footage at the apartment of one elderly victim. The footage showed a man in an orange shirt a baseball hat on his way to pick up money from the target.
Police advise that if someone calls and asks for money, saying that they’re in trouble, to be suspicious and added that police never ask for money when they have someone in custody.
