The Grande Prairie RCMP is warning the public about an influx of recent scams being reported in the city.
Police say they have received several calls from residents reporting fraudulent scams, which they called ’emergency scams or grande parents scams.’
The scams target seniors and grandparents, mostly pretending to be police officers, judges, or family members and telling the victims family that their loved one is in trouble and asking for money.
Grande Prairie RCMP Sergeant Shawn Graham says they received half a dozen reports on March 2nd alone and warns that those are only the incidents they’ve been made aware of.
“In these recent incidents, the suspect was pretending to be a lawyer or a grandchild stating they needed bail money.”
Graham says the scammers are using high-pressure tactics to create a sense of urgency and ask for a huge sum of money.
“They are asking people to come to places with the money and the money is quite significant, they are asking for like 7 to 8 thousand dollars,”
“The people are becoming familiar with and aware of these calls and they would ask questions if necessary,” Graham adds
Graham says the scammers are typical trying to force the victim into making a quick decision by creating a false sense of urgency. He adds a great way to protect yourself from potentially becoming a victim is to take a step back and evaluate the situation without rush.
Visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website for more details.