Nanaimo couple narrowly avoid losing thousands in notorious ‘grandson scam’

Nanaimo RCMP have shared the story of a local couple who narrowly avoided losing thousands of dollars in a ‘grandson scam’ against them. 

Police say that on Thursday, November 13th, the couple who are in their 60s, reported to police that they received a call around 2 a.m. from someone who sounded like their adult son, and was crying.

The couple reported that in between his sobs, this individual told them he had been arrested. 

Then another individual took over the call, identifying himself as Sgt. Thomas Scott, and told them their son had been arrested and was being held at the courthouse. 

The police officer imposter reportedly used their son’s full name and claimed their son had been driving and texting, then told the couple he had struck a one-year child.  

They were then told that in order to secure his release, they would have to pay $2,500 in bail.

“Given the time of night, and by using their son’s name, the couple didn’t outright dismiss the call,” said R/Cst. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP.

“The caller also appeared to be quite knowledgeable about the court system.”

However, the couple started to think the situation was suspicious when they were told they would need to e-transfer the money to secure the release. 

When the scammer told them this, they reportedly clued in, hung up and reported the incident to police.

Police say that after the phone call, they were unable to reach their real son by phone, so they decided to get in their car and drive the short distance to his house to check on him. 

They told investigators that they were grateful to find him at home, safe and sound upon arrival.

Nanaimo RCMP recommends taking proactive action against these types of scams with family members. 

They say setting up “family passwords” to verify identities is one way to protect families and their hard earned money.