A Richmond, British Columbia great-grandmother has fallen victim to the grandchild bail scam and wants to warn others.
88-year-old Gretchen Schellenberg received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer saying her grandson Tyler had been in an accident and was in jail because drugs had been found in the car.
The caller demanded $18,000 to get Tyler out of jail.
Schellenberg initially withdrew $5,000 and later gave another $4,000 and her pearls worth $1,500 as collateral to an Ontario address.
Weeks later, she saw an article in her local paper about the grandchild scam and realized she had been scammed.
Schellenberg has filed fraud reports with the RCMP and her bank, but doubts she’ll see the money or her pearls again.
Her advice to other seniors is to tell somebody and not keep it in, and to be aware of phone calls claiming a loved one is in trouble with the law and needs money.
