THUNDER BAY — After seeing a spike in reports of scams targeting seniors, the Thunder Bay Police Service says it believes new education campaigns are reducing the effectiveness of those fraud attempts.
Police say information provided to local seniors’ residences and posted at bitcoin ATMs in the city has already seemed to pay off in a drop in reports of successful scams.
Det.-Const. Shawn Comeau and Det.-Const. David Boer from the service’s Economic Crime Unit have helped investigate a number of those scams.
In an interview with TBnewswatch, they said the crimes can be difficult to prosecute, and victims often never recover their losses.
“The amount of money people are giving away [can be high],” said Comeau. “We’re not always successful in getting that money back for these people.”
“Because we can’t stop these people from calling, and we certainly can’t stop people from giving their money, we want to make them aware of it before they get these calls.”
Police launched a poster campaign initially targeting bitcoin ATMs last year, and moving into retirement homes and other seniors’ residences more recently.
The posters, affixed with a bright red “Scam Alert!” headline, advise residents of common strategies used by would-be fraudsters.
One popular variation of fraud attempts targeting seniors, known as the “grandparent scam,” typically involves fraudsters impersonating a victim’s grandchild, often claiming to be in trouble and requiring money, such as needing to post bail.
Late last year, police reported scammers went as far as impersonating couriers and showing up at people’s doorsteps, purportedly to collect emergency money for family members.
Some of those scammers were believed to be operating from within Thunder Bay.
Comeau said other common variations include lottery scams, in which victims typically receive a call saying they have won money, but need to pay taxes on their winnings, and credit card scams, in which scammers report a charge was made in error, and require banking information to process a refund that never arrives.
In the winter of 2022, the police service said fraud investigators were “inundated” with bitcoin scams.
Victims were coerced into submitting money into a bitcoin wallet via one of the city’s eight bitcoin ATMs, police say.
After police posted signs at the ATMs warning people of the scams, they say reports of bitcoin fraud dropped to nearly zero.
“We observed a huge change in the amount of calls we were getting because of that, so we believe that initiative worked,” said Comeau.
Police say the grandparent scam “hit locals in waves several times in late 2022 and early 2023,” but believe the information campaign helped arm seniors with the knowledge to avoid getting sucked in.
“It’s paid for itself already,” said Boer of the education campaign. “With the last wave of grandparents scams we just had, we had a lot less victims. Most people were just notifying us that someone had tried to scam them.”
The police service said it can’t estimate the total amount victims lose locally in scams, but has seen some astronomical figures in individual cases.
“We’ve seen people scammed anywhere from $200 to $200,000,” said Comeau. “Usually, the higher numbers are over a longer period of time.”
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre found scam victims lost over $5.4 million last year in Ontario alone, and fraud reports increased by nearly 40 per cent nation-wide from 2021.
Boer said while some stereotypes about seniors being easier marks for scams are exaggerated, they are often targeted.
“Because they’re from an older generation, seniors tend to be more trusting of people in general,” he said. “They seem to think that anything on the internet is true, people calling them are not lying to them, so they’re more susceptible.
“It’s not that they’re stupid, it’s just that they’re more naive in regards to dealing with people who have a criminal intent.”
A lesser familiarity with technology can be a factor, but Boer noted more and more seniors are becoming internet savvy.
In terms of advice for local residents, Comeau said it’s not complicated.
“The minute they ask you for money, or try to offer you free money, it’s likely a scam. You should probably hang up the phone and contact police, and we’ll provide some advice.”
Police advise residents to visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website to learn more.
The police service also encourages residents to speak with more vulnerable family members and friends about the issue.
