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North Van senior foils fraudster’s scam

Score one for the good guys. A local senior has foiled a fraudster attempting to bilk her out of $9,300, North Vancouver RCMP say. On Aug. 3, a stranger contacted the North Vancouver woman, pretending to be her grandson.
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Score one for the good guys.

A local senior has foiled a fraudster attempting to bilk her out of $9,300, North Vancouver RCMP say.

On Aug. 3, a stranger contacted the North Vancouver woman, pretending to be her grandson. The suspect convinced her he was in an emergency and that she needed to send him cash via a courier without telling anyone else.

But soon after she had sent the money, suspicion set in and the woman called the RCMP, who were quickly able to halt the delivery.

Each year, the North Vancouver RCMP and West Vancouver police issue multiple public warnings after residents are swindled – the “grandparent scam” is among the most frequent - but usually only after it’s too late to recover the money.
“It’s despicable that someone would target a senior citizen in this way, preying on their kindness. We’re gratified to be able to get the money back in this case, but we know that many other victims haven’t been so lucky,” said Sgt. Doug Trousdell, North Vancouver RCMP spokesman.