Canadian Granny Scam Dupes Americans

Telephone scammers in Canada love Americans. They also have found that some of the American people are incredibly easy to fool with a scam. If they can concoct a convincing story, they can get people to send them thousands of dollars.

With the Granny Scam the caller pretends to be a grandchild in trouble in Canada who needs money immediately. The caller often says he’s been arrested, was in a car accident or had some type of medical emergency.

“I fell for it completely,” says Bill Wilson, 79, of Sequim, Wash., who got taken for $6,500. The caller, who pretended to be his grandson, said he was in jail in Canada.

This deviously clever scam is very effective because it catches the potential victims off guard and tugs at their heartstrings.

In 2007, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre received 128 complaints about this scam. Since the beginning of the year, more than 317 complaints were filed, and the majority of those were in July and August.

This sort of scam, based on an “emergency situation” has been around for years. But the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre, also known as PhoneBusters, reports a dramatic increase in the number of complaints.

“We’ve seen tremendously high losses, usually $3,000 to $4,000 a hit,” says PhoneBusters’ spokesperson Debbie Bell. But some victims lose much more.

Because they are in another country, it’s hard to track down, let alone prosecute these telephone con artists. They know many tricks to avoid law enforcement.

The way to fight back is to make sure your friends and family members don’t become victims. Explain how the scam works. Tell them to be suspicious of anyone who calls unexpectedly and wants them to wire money – especially to Canada. Make sure they know the right thing to do is to call you or someone else in the family, even if they’re told to keep it a secret.

Source: MSNBC, USA