Beware of people scamming seniors, police warn

June is Seniors Month across the province, and the Ontario Provincial Police are reminding seniors to beware of scammers.

The message they’re spreading is specifically about cyber scamming -- and in North Bay, seniors are really being affected.

The OPP said that more than $135 million was lost last year to fraud-related crimes involving seniors. Many seniors in North Bay are affected, as well.

“It seems to be a really vulnerable group, and it happens a lot,” said Maureen Bruce-Payne of the Golden Age Club.

“I’ve been approached myself … there’s so many of them, every second day-type thing.”

Police said seniors are easy targets for scammers and that elderly people are losing more money than anyone else.

“The big challenge that we have is that we are seeing seniors lose on an average 33 per cent more than any other demographic,” said OPP Det. Const. John Armit.

“Seniors are not as prolific on social media or technology or what flags younger generations who are more accustomed to social media will pick up on.”

“With social media now, they can get to know different things about your life,” added Bruce-Payne.

“They can say you have a son, this and aunt that, and that’s my uncle. It makes it convincing.”

Armit said less than 10 per cent of victims report being scammed and once the money is gone, he said it’s hard for police to track it down.

“The money is being laundered out of Canada, out of our jurisdiction,” Armit said.

“With privacy constraints, it’s making it hard for organizations to share that information. It takes police longer to write traditional authorizations to get the material, so it is a significant challenge.”

The OPP said if someone suspects they are being scammed, it’s important to call police right away so the person has the best chance of getting their money back.