Scammers tried to rob this Ontario couple of $9K. Police say more and more seniors are falling prey

A phone call to her home in Ingersoll, Ont. two weeks ago sent Diane Lindsay into a panic.

One the other end was a man claiming to be police officer from Woodstock RCMP, who said her grandson was in an accident. When police went to investigate, they found drugs in his car, the man said.

Her grandson was in jail and she'd have to post a $9,000 bond to get him out, he told her.

Lindsay contacted her husband, Ron, to arrange for the money. But when Ron heard the story, he had his suspicions. 

"They want money. And supposedly there was a gag order by the court, so she wasn't to tell anybody," he said. "I said to her, 'This sounds like a scam.'"

The story was elaborate. Lindsay was told her grandson was sick and that a friend drove him to the drugstore and got into an accident on the way. The man knew the couple's names, knew they had a grandson, and when Diane let her grandson's name slip, knew who to ask about. 

At one point, the voice on the other end even purported to let Lindsay speak to her grandson. 

"It didn't sound just like him, but he said, 'Grandma, I'm awfully sick and that's why I got a ride to go and get something," she said. "I'm very trusting."

While Ron had his suspicions, he was still doubtful because this phone call seemed different than the rest. 

"It's not the traditional grandparents scheme that I've heard so much about," he said. "He's well spoken... [had] good terminology, all the right vocabulary, and he wants cash, not bitcoins or credit cards."

Ron wasn't planning on getting the money but did drive to his daughter's house, where he found his grandson — healthy and not in jail. 

"They must have a little background information before they do this," he said. 

While the Lindsays were lucky not to fall for the scam, many elderly people in Ontario aren't so fortunate. 

The number of seniors falling victim to fraud scams has continued to increase over the last three years and so have the dollar losses, data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) shows.