An 86-year-old Nanaimo man is the latest victim to fall prey to the grandson scam.
The victim was taken for $2,000 after he was led to believe his grandson was in trouble and desperately needed money to get out of jail.
Const. Gary O'Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said the man received a phone call at his home on Monday from a male in Montreal, Que.
The caller told the victim he was his grandson – even provided the correct name – and said he had been in a car accident, in Montreal where he was for a friend's funeral.
The scammer asked to have the money delivered by Purolator to a Montreal address. He also asked that his parents not be told about his situation.
"They'd obviously done their homework because the caller had his grandson's name," O'Brien said. "They also knew of a vacation the family had just taken, either from social media or they had been tipped off. It's quite easy to get the information from social media."
The victim sent the money, but became suspicious and called his actual grandson the next day only to have his suspicions confirmed.
"Our investigator has contacted Montreal P.D. and they are following up with that address," O'Brien said.
This is the latest spin on a scam that has taken thousands of dollars from grandparents throughout the province.
The most recent previous incident reported in the Nanaimo area happened in January when a Cedar man was defrauded of $7,500.