Stu Bradley recently lost his beloved wife Dixie, who died in August, and says scammers used information in her obituary – such as names of her grandchildren – to gain his trust and identify close family members. It all started when he received a call at 12:40pm on Wednesday from someone claiming to be Const. Jeffrey of the Olds RCMP. The crook told Bradley his granddaughter had an accident and said “I’ll let you talk to her.” Bradley says a female voice came on the phone saying she had crashed her neighbor’s vehicle, breaking her nose in the process. Bradley says the woman said “Grandpa, I have a broken nose, that’s why my voice doesn’t sound the same.” The woman claiming to be his granddaughter then went on to claim that EMS had been called to investigate the crash and RCMP found 10 kilograms of marijuana in the trunk of the car. The woman said she was escorted to the Olds RCMP detachment where she was being held on a drug-related charge. “It’s jarring because of course they’re saying she’s my granddaughter and they’ve been able to get me with this concept,” Bradley said. “Now I thought obviously she’s facing a very serious drug charge and at this stage of the game she’s in prison so they asked me if I was the man to contact and I said ‘yes I am’. Bradley says the fake constable got back on the phone and said Bradley’s granddaughter was brought before a judge and assessed a $9,000 bail deal. He told Bradley to withdraw $9,000 in cash from his bank account, but warned him not to tell the bank or any family members what he was doing because the charge was “so serious.” Worried about his granddaughter, Bradley went to his bank and told a teller that he knew he had found an antique he wanted to buy and needed $9,000 to complete the transaction. He returned home and called “Const. Jeffrey” to let him know he had a $9,000 bankroll. “Immediately, I was informed by a very stern constable who said ‘Mr Bradley, you’ve misunderstood and you need to go back to the bank and get cash,’” Bradley said. “I was told to put the money in a brown envelope, address the court in Calgary and put the words ‘code orange’ at the bottom of the envelope.” Bradley was then told that a courier would arrive within 10 minutes to collect the envelope from his home. He was instructed to stay near the phone to await further instructions until he arrived. The fake constable called and said the courier was having trouble finding the address, so he told Bradley to go outside and stand in the street. “A young lady shows up, she didn’t seem like the right type of person to be a warrant courier,” Bradley said. “But by the same token, when they show up and say ‘code orange’ (and) it kind of cleared up in my mind that these were the right people.” Bradley says the woman walked down the street a few houses down and left the area, but it wasn’t until a short time later that she realized she had been scammed. A GoFundMe page has since been set up in an attempt to recover some of Bradley’s money, but he says the real victory in his eyes would be catching those responsible. “They called again this morning, same gentleman, same voice, same figure and he thought he had me hooked. “This scam is a very smooth, sophisticated system with some very sophisticated professionals who are hurting so many people.”
POLICE AND FRAUD EXPERTS WARN OF FRAUDS
Calgary police and fraud experts continue to hunt for phone scammers responsible for stealing thousands of dollars from elderly and vulnerable Albertans. Better Business Bureau president and CEO Mary O’Sullivan-Andersen says Calgarians should be aware of scammers and do their due diligence to ask critical questions if someone calls their home or cell phone. “We don’t even realize we’re putting those close to us at risk sometimes, but if we share information about our travels or where we are, then the fact is there are family members who could end up being a victim,” he said. “That doesn’t mean don’t post anything online, but it does mean we need to make sure we educate people around us about why there are risk factors around it, it’s really important.” O’Sullivan-Andersen adds that Calgarans who receive spam calls should report them to law enforcement immediately. “We see all too often with fraud and scams where people are embarrassed or ashamed and don’t want to report it, and they’ve lost thousands of dollars and more importantly, their security is lost.”
