NEWS & ANALYSIS
Westmount residents victims of ?get out of jail? scam
By Joel Goldenberg The Suburban A country-wide scam enticing seniors to wire money on the pretext of bailing out a relative from jail has hit home for Westmount resident John Mason and his family, who said they conned out of nearly $8,000. The scam has also been reported as far away as Vancouver, where in one case, a Safeway clerk dissuaded a senior from wiring $4,600 to get her ?grandson? out of ?jail.? The RCMP has dubbed this ?the grandson scam.? Mason decided to make his case known to the public, after reading last week?s Suburban story in which Station 9 commander Sylvain Bissonnette warned of the scam, which appears to originate from Toronto but is likely operated out of Montreal. The resident believes other seniors in his apartment building at 4300 De Maisonneuve West could also be targeted. Mason said that nearly two weeks ago, his wife received a call from someone purporting to be a grandson, calling from Toronto. ?My wife asked what was wrong, and she heard background noise like doors clanging. He said ?I?m in lockup and I was involved in a head-on collision and I?m only allowed one phone call. I need money to get out of jail ? I wrote a cheque, but they won?t accept cheques, only cash. Oh, my time is up, my lawyer will call you right back.?? Sure enough, someone claiming to be a legal aid lawyer called ?within minutes? and claimed that the grandson crashed into a car after a wedding and failed a breathalyzer test. The ?lawyer? requested that $3,700 be wired, and said to hurry because the courts closed at 4:30 p.m. that day. ?At that point, you say yes, oh my God, you think it?s your grandson, 21-yearsold, a clean-cut young lad ? of course we?ll help.? The lawyer phoned back to say he received the money, after 3:30 p.m., and then claimed he had to do paperwork. He called back again to say he could not complete the papers in time and the grandson would be held for another day. He called again the next day to say that the ?car crash victim? was suing for damages, amounting to $2,500.? The lawyer also claimed the grandsonMCGILL INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE RESEARCH GROUP PRESENTS
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