A local grandmother is worried that other grandparents may be the victim of a phone scam that happened to her last week. A man phoned the woman twice, claiming to be her grandson. The woman didn’t want to be identified in the newspaper by name, fearing retribution from the callers.
When the woman picked up the phone, the first thing the man said was “Hi Grandma.”
She said he didn’t sound like her grandson.
He said, “But I’m your grandson!”
The first time he said “youngest grandson”, the second time he phoned he said “favourite grandson” which really tipped her off, because she doesn’t have a favourite grandson.
The man lowered his voice and said “We’ve got to keep this confidential, between you and me,” but the woman said she could hear another voice in the room. He said he got drunk and smashed a car, and now was in need of money.
“I knew it wasn’t our grandson because he doesn’t drink and he doesn’t have a car.”
The man on the other end said he was in Montreal. The woman’s grandsons are in Ontario. The man then said he took a road trip there with his friends.
Then the woman asked where he has driven from. The man said “Langley.”
That’s when the woman said “You are not my grandson,” and the man hung up.
She said it’s sometimes hard to understand who is on the other end of the phone because cell phones can have interference. She said that was going through her head, before he started saying things that didn’t make sense.
She received a second phone call a few days later, again claiming it was her grandson. The man said his name was “Michael” but muffled it on the other end. She said “You’re not my grandson,” again, and the man hung up.
“The phone went dead. He’s just checking people.”
She didn’t stay on the phone long enough for him to ask her for an amount of money. She said she has heard of other people being asked for as much as $3,000.
She wants to warn other seniors who may be hard of hearing or not used to looking after finances that these scam artists are phoning people in the Robson Valley. Families may also want to tell their elderly relatives they will never phone for money over the phone.
She said it really rattled her. She phoned the RCMP and they said to go to the newspaper, because there is little they can do.
