Stratford Police are warning residents to keep a close watch out for ‘Grandparent Scams.’
Over the last several weeks, SPS says they’ve seen an increase in the scams that typically involve a victim receiving a phone call from a scammer who is posing as their grandchild.
The suspect frantically explains that they are in trouble and that there’s been an accident, have been arrested, or that some other emergency has come up.
The scammer then asks for the victim to send them money to help deal with the situation.
If you get a phone call like this, police say you should never offer information to the caller.
Instead, you should ask them questions that only they would know the answers to and hang up the phone and try to contact another family member to confirm the situation is real.
Anyone who gets a call like this is asked to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or Stratford Police.