Group aims to protect N.B. seniors from scams and fraud

Seniors in New Brunswick learned about scam and fraud protection at an event on Thursday.

Shenia Grant has been targeted not once, but twice when it comes to scams.

The first time, she was told they fixed her computer and charged her $240 for the service before coming back the next day and asking for $600 more.

“I said, ‘This is a scam,’ and immediately called the police,” she said. “The other time was the grandparent scam, when I got a phone call saying, ‘Grandma, there’s been an accident. I’m alright, but Grandma, they want me to give money and if not, I’ll go to jail,’ and I said, ‘I’m very sorry, you must call your parents,’ and put the phone down and immediately phoned the Mounties and they told me right away it was a scam.”

According to the Government of Canada, fraud is the number one crime against older Canadians.

“Technology is great. The Internet is great if it’s used for good. But there’s a lot of people that have learned to use it for bad and that’s what you’ve really got to be aware of,” said 73-year-old Bob Nelson. “It kind of drives home what you’ve got to be careful about and a few things to look for, you know, just keep your wits about you.”

Nelson says he hasn’t had to deal with the typical phone-scams, but he does believe he was targeted at least once.

“I remember one time at a certain service station I used to use my credit card in the pay at the pump thing and then we did notice a charge on the credit card that didn’t seem right and we got it removed and all that stuff and I thought, ‘That’s the only thing I’m doing different,’ so I stopped using the pay at the pump thing and it never happened again,” he said.

Nursing Home Without Walls Tantramar hosted a scams and fraud prevention presentation on Thursday. Coordinator Rachelle Gariepy says unfortunately the topic of scams and fraud is one everyone can relate to, especially seniors.

“I think we all know an older adult or senior in our life who has either been targeted, has heard that phone call, ‘Grandma, I’m looking for help, can you help me, I’ve had an accident, so on,’” she said. “Most of us are good people who want to help and it’s heartbreaking to think that someone who is helpful and good can become a victim to something that’s so awful and devastating.”

This was the sixth presentation for Nursing Home Without Walls Tantramar. The Tantramar location makes the 22nd location in New Brunswick since the pilot program in 2019.

“Now we’re looking at 30 sites across New Brunswick and there is also plans for a pan-Canadian expansion of the program,” said Gariepy.

She says the plan is to hold more Snacks and Facts on fraud and scams specifically.

“We have family members, our grandparents, our loved ones, our significant others and our neighbours who are being targeted so the more we can be informed to reduce the risk of being vulnerable to these frauds and scams, the better,” she said.

RCMP community officer Melannie Belliveau presented information at the event.

“It’s not slowing down. It’s ongoing. They’re finding better ways. They’re changing it. It’s just non-stop. There’s always something new. One trend can slow down, another can start going,” she said. “Prevention is awareness, right? It’s really important to communication with every generation. Younger ones, let’s say, it’s more concert tickets or things that really spike up on their shopping or what not so every kind of group have their different ones, but they all come back to the same kind of emotional stress and vulnerability side.”

Belliveau says the most popular scams for seniors are the grandparent scam and the life insurance scam.

“This is getting a lot bigger where they do a lot of their research by checking out obituaries and waiting until two-three months and then attaching it to the families, reaching out,” she said. “It’s tough because a lot of people work for this money and it’s something that they saved up all their lives and all of a sudden you’re having to tell them, you know, we can’t trace where it is or where it’s coming from so the more report we have the more we can find where it’s coming from.”

She says the biggest take away for any generation is prevention is key, but when it comes to seniors, the message she was hoping to really get across is it’s okay to hang up the phone and that’s exactly what they should do if something doesn’t seem right.

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