Faced with something too good to be true — like a possible $4.6-million inheritance — a Red Deer senior turned to someone he trusted, which is exactly what the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre recommends.
Lorne Levsen received a letter on Thursday, postmarked in France, claiming to be from a financial adviser from Spain alerting him that he was the heir to $9.3 million sitting in a safety deposit box. The adviser said he would split the money with Levsen.
Levsen, who had never heard about such a scam, said he went straight to his long-time neighbour, Christy Jones, to figure out what to do, because he couldn’t afford a lawyer to determine what was going on.
“That all costs money. Lawyers don’t come cheap,” Levsen said.
Jones was happy Levsen turned to her.
“It just worries me that other elderly people; maybe someone isn’t looking out for them, and they get some stupid letter like that and they fall for it,” Jones said.
As soon as Jones read the letter, she turned on her computer to show Levsen a YouTube video about the scam.
Jessica Gunson, acting call centre and intake unit manager at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, said since 2017, there have been 287 reports of the inheritance scam, with 32 people losing a combined $1.6 million.
That includes 77 complaints in Alberta, where two people lost a combined $70,000.
“While the numbers are not staggering in terms of volume of complaints, the dollar loss can be substantial,” Gunson said.
She said people need to recognize this type of letter is not the way someone would be contacted about an inheritance. Once someone sends money, it just snowballs, added Gunson. There’s always one more fee until the victim has nothing left.
“What the scammers want you to do is get really excited and react. They don’t want you to do a quick online search, because you’re going to find all kind of information on why this isn’t real.”
She said mail scams are still out there and it can be easy to get contact information, such as names and addresses, even if people don’t use computers. Scammers will also target a certain age demographic because they know the payoff is better.
She said it’s estimated that less than five per cent of mass marketing fraud complaints are reported to the centre. Often, victims are ashamed, but they are absolutely not alone.
“We speak to consumers on a daily basis in similar situations and there are resources and help out there for them. The best thing they can do is to report it.”
Gunson said they should also report scams to the local police.
To report a scam or for more information, visit http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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