“Grandma? It’s me, your grandson,” the voice on the phone trembled. “I got into a car accident and they said I hit someone. Please don’t tell anyone,” pleaded the caller. “I’ve been arrested and need bail money right away.”
The scammer pressed on, sounding urgent and scared. “The lawyer said someone can come pick up the cash from your house. Can you help me? I need you to trust me, Grandma. I’m in so much trouble, please don’t call Mom and Dad.”
For countless seniors, these desperate words are all too familiar. The “grandparent scam” has become one of the most pervasive frauds in Canada, with con artists manipulating older adults, preying on their trusting nature, and in some cases, exploiting the confusion or cognitive decline that can come with dementia to make their deception even more convincing. Now, these schemes are growing even more sophisticated, as scammers use artificial intelligence to mimic family members with alarming accuracy.
Recent data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reveals that the scale of the problem is growing fast. In 2022, the CAFC recorded $530 million in total fraud losses in Canada, a nearly 40 percent jump from $380 million in 2021. Of that, more than $9.2 million was lost to “emergency scams,” a category that includes grandparent scams. This was up sharply from about $2.4 million the year before.
In New Brunswick, the RCMP has documented a troubling rise in recent years, issuing repeated warnings as grandparent scams continue to target older residents in the province. In recent months alone, reports have come in from the Greater Moncton Region, Kings, Madawaska, and York counties, involving callers posing as distressed grandchildren or legal authorities demanding money immediately.
Amid this surge in scams, one recent Manitoba case offers a glimpse of justice catching up with bad actors. Last month, a Winnipeg man was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $31,700 in restitution for his role in a series of grandparent scams that defrauded eight seniors, aged 73 to 89, of thousands of dollars.
What makes this case especially noteworthy is the judge’s decision to go beyond what the prosecution had requested. The Crown had sought a two-year prison sentence, but the judge imposed three, noting that the Crown’s recommendation was too lenient given the seriousness of the offence, its growing frequency in Manitoba and across Canada, and the offender’s high degree of culpability. “This crime has become notorious,” the judge said. “Sentences must be severe enough to serve to denounce the crime and deter others from taking the risk of engaging in what is essentially elder abuse.”
The sentence sends a clear signal that the courts are taking the emotional and financial toll of these crimes seriously, recognizing that exploiting seniors is not a minor offence but a calculated act that preys on our most basic instincts of love and trust.
While this scam ended with a conviction, protection must begin long before these cases reach the courtroom, through awareness campaigns, community vigilance, and honest conversations about trust and vulnerability that help seniors recognize the signs of fraud. When families talk, neighbours pay attention, and authorities respond, we can build a safer and more just society for all of us as we grow older together.
Heather Campbell Pope is founder of Dementia Justice Canada, a small nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the rights and dignity of people with dementia.
