Calgary Police are issuing a warning about an old scheme that is taking unsuspecting seniors by surprise and stealing their money.

Officials say that they are investigating 86 cases of what is called the ‘Grandparent Scam’.

These types of scams consist of con artists contacting victims, posing as a family member or friend in urgent need of money.

The suspects often include a story that they have been injured or arrested and inform the victim that they need money transferred through a money transfer company such as Western Union or Money Gram.

Victims are also asked that they keep the request quiet from other family members, claiming they are embarrassed about the situation, in an attempt to mask their activities.

Often the scam also includes a second suspect posing as a lawyer which provides specific details on how the transaction can be made.

Margaret, a recent victim of such a scam said on Friday that the con artists strike when you are 'at your worst'. "This scam has been crafted very carefully. They try to catch you at your worst, either early in the morning, or in my case, late Friday afternoon, when you can't do anything anyway."

She said that when the con artists called her, they told her a story about her grandson being involved in some sort of car rental dispute in Montreal. She says she has suspicions from the start, but her previous experiences blinded her to the fact this was a scam.

"I've been the go-to person since my husband died in 1960. I'm the one who gets everybody out of trouble, with money or whatever. It wasn't totally new to me."

As a result, she ended up sending money to a courier company that would send the money to the address where her supposed grandson needed. According to Margaret, police told her that the company and the recieving address were on opposite ends of the same block in  Montreal.

She adds that the best defence people have against these types of calls is if you have any suspicion at all, you should hang up the phone.

Sandra Crozier-McKee, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Southern Alberta, says that it’s not just cash that criminals are after. “We’re starting to see scammers getting people to purchase grocery gift cards as a way of obtaining personal financial information.”

Police say that between August and November of this year, there have been a total of 45 cases of this scam that resulted in $75,000 being stolen. Luckily, with help from the authorities, many of the money transfers involved were cancelled before they could be cashed in.

However, in one case, a victim was bilked out of nearly $15,000.

Calgary Police also offer the following tips to prevent people from falling for these scams:

Don’t respond to a request until you have a cancel to verify the story

Never transfer money or personal information until you can verify the person’s identity

Ask lots of questions that only the family member they claim to be would know

Get call back numbers so you can confirm legitimacy of phone calls

Always verify the caller’s story with other family members, despite what they say

Immediately report suspicious activity to police

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637