January 27, 2015
963
(SOUTHERN BRUCE COUNTY, ON) – Jan. 26, at 7:40 p.m., the South Bruce OPP received the report of a fraud from a resident of Arran-Elderslie.
An urgent phone call was made to advise that his “grandson” had been in a crash and needed money badly. A sum of almost $1,400 was sent through a money transfer service before the scam was recognized.
There is no magic to preventing fraud. If something sounds too good to be true or seems a little “weird,” it probably is. Beware of unsolicited phone calls, E-mails, letters, faxes and strangers at your door. Unsolicited means that you didn’t ask for it. It’s your money, you work hard for it, so don’t hand it over to a con-artist. Hang up the phone, delete the E-mails, ignore the faxes and close your door; if they can’t interact with you, they can’t steal your money.
The “Grandparent” or “Emergency” scam has been operating for a long time. An easy way to detect the scam is to make some phone calls and verify that your grandchild actually needs help before you ever consider sending any money.
Anyone interested in more information on Fraud can call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or on-line at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca
The South Bruce OPP is requesting anyone with information that can assist police to call 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or send a web-tip to crimestop-gb.org, where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
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