'They are very vulnerable': Seniors learn how to spot grandparent scams

Residents at a Kitchener seniors home got a lesson Thursday on grandparent scams.

The hope is that once they know what to look out for, they won’t become victims of fraud.

Grandparent scams, also known as emergency or imposter schemes, is when a stranger poses as a family member and makes a request for money.

Shirley DuCharme, 91, attended the education session at Briarfield Gardens Senior Living.

She said she’s been getting some strange calls lately, including voicemails from someone claiming to be from Amazon who has been demanding money.

“They said give it back to us, its $99.99,” DuCharme explained.

That’s one way con artists try to take advantage of seniors.

“They trust people and they are concerned for their family’s well-being, so they want to do anything they can to help, and they are losing a lot of money in the process,” said Angela Dennis, the president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ontario.

The organization shared tips on how to spot and avoid all kinds of cons during Thursday’s event.

“Unfortunately some of our residents here in our community have been scammed,” said Meghan Bignell, a director at Briarfield Gardens. “They are very vulnerable.”

According to the Better Business Bureau, about 1,600 incidents were reported to them in 2021 and $379 million was lost.

“This is just a fraction of what’s really happening, this is the unfortunate part,” said one of the event attendees.

Some incidents aren’t reported because seniors may be embarrassed they fell for the scheme.

But the scammers are clever and will sometimes find out family names and nicknames through social media sties to try and trick potential victims.

“We’ve seen it go as far as, they say their grandchild needs bail money or money to get out of a situation, and then another individual will even get on the phone stating they are a detective,” said Dennis. “Don’t make a quick decision. Stop and think about it. Verify. Contact a family member.”

MORE: Grandparent scams: How they work and what you can do to avoid them

Staff at Briarfield Gardens also run a weekly tech meeting where they assist residents with suspicious emails.

“It’s very unfortunate,” said Bignell. “They’ve worked hard for their earnings and to be able to enjoy it.”

DuCharme called her granddaughter after receiving messages from the person pretending to be from Amazon, and her suspicions were confirmed.

“I am quite aware of it and I am quite cautious about phone calls that we don’t know,” she said.