'That was my granddaughter's voice': Senior suspects scammers used AI in Regina, Saskatoon
CBC
Jill Finn is still haunted by the voice.
"I will swear to my dying death that it was her voice, her mannerisms, her little ups and downs," Finn said in an interview.
"Her voice was identical."
The 79-year-old lives in Regina with her 78-year-old husband Ian. She recounted how her phone rang on a Tuesday afternoon earlier this month.
Finn believed that she was speaking with her granddaughter. The young woman was crying and said she needed help. She said she'd just been in a car accident and had been arrested.
"I was about to turn a corner and I've rear-ended a woman and she's a senior," she told Finn. "She was rushed to the hospital."
The "granddaughter" told Finn she'd been arrested for distracted driving and needed cash for bail — $6,875, to be precise.
Finn said that, at that point, nothing had happened to make her overly suspicious. Her "granddaughter" handed her off to a police officer, who in turn handed her off to a lawyer — "Mr. Williams" — who would be handling the details of getting the bail money.
"Mr. Williams" gave Finn the instructions.
"He told me that I'd have to go to the bank and withdraw the money, cash. And he said, don't tell them it's for a bail bond … people may talk in the bank," she said.
He added that, should anyone ask, she should say that she was paying a contractor cash for a home renovation. Once she had the cash, she was to call another number and a courier would come to their house and pick up the money. The lawyer said the courthouse was too busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays for her to deliver the cash in person.
She was to leave the money in a small box on her front step.
Finn said that she went to the bank and withdrew $7,000, in 50s and 100s. Once she got home, though, she and her husband became suspicious, because there had been no mention of the courier leaving a receipt for the cash.
Finn decided to track down the lawyer, "Mr. Williams." She went to the Regina phone book and located a listing for defence lawyer John Williams.
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