A 23-year-old Ontario man has been arrested and charged following an investigation into a telephone scam targeting seniors in the metro area.
Police arrested Charles Gillen at St. John’s International Airport on Thursday night as Gillen was trying to leave the province.
He’s facing a long list of charges including fraud over $5,000, extortion, and conspiracy to commit an offence. He appeared in provincial court today as was remanded in custody pending a bail hearing on Tuesday.
VOCM News has received a number of calls in recent days from listeners who said they received calls from someone pretending to be a family member who had run into trouble.
Constable James Cadigan says between Feb. 8th and March 2nd they received multiple reports of a scam targeting seniors. @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/yiDaQjQCBq
— Richard Duggan (@RDugganVOCM) March 3, 2023
RNC Const. James Cadigan says a person would receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a family member in jail. A second person, claiming to be a police officer, or a lawyer, would then get on the line and indicate that the person in question needed money to be freed from custody.
A call-back number was provided, and the seniors were asked to call when the money was withdrawn, and someone would come to their house to get it. Cadigan says thousands of dollars were lost due to the scam.
The investigation continues and more charges are possible.
The RNC is offering a number of tips to residents who receive such unusual calls. They include:
– If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be law enforcement, looking to obtain personal information, end the conversation and contact the local police agency;
– Anyone seeking large transactions of cash within a short time period of time is deemed suspicious.
– Use caution posting online. Fraudsters can gather information from your social media accounts that will make their claims sound legitimate;
– Don’t trust a number just because it is local or familiar. Fraudsters may use technology that will disguise their actual contact;
– If you receive a suspicious call from someone claiming to be a family member who has been arrested, in hospital, or in an emergency requiring immediate money transfers, hang up the phone and contact the person and/or agencies mentioned;
– If you receive any type of unsolicited mail, phone call, email or text messages that ask for any type of personal information, do not respond and delete or discard it immediately;
– If you are conducting any type of business online or over the phone, make sure you know exactly who you are dealing with.
