Canadian Post Slams Senior Scam

Canada's Abbottfords-Mission Times reports local postal workers have thwarted a new scam against senior citizens."

Reporter Jean Konda-Witte pens, "Janene Erickson's oma [grandmother] thought she was doing the right thing when she hot-footed it down to Abbotsford's main post office last week to send money to her granddaughter in need. She had a call from a girl pretending to be Janene, who convinced the cautious senior that her granddaughter was in a car accident in Quebec and needed help and money."

Janene is quoted as saying "... the scam artist had told her oma that 'her eldest granddaughter had been in an accident,' and they didn't know her name until oma replied, 'Janene?' The chances are pretty good that seniors have a granddaughter, and that's where they get the hook."

When her grandmother tried to send a MoneyGram for $2,000 to Quebec from the postal office in Abbotsford, some postal workers thought it sounded fishy and suggested to the senior that she try to call her granddaughter.

Janene (shown above outside the Abbotsford branch post office), 29, answered her cell phone from her job at Abbotsford City Hall and talked to her grandmother just one block away.

Janene and her grandmother are extremely thankful for the postal workers, who were able to thwart the scam artists.

"They took time out of their day to investigate it on their own. We are so grateful to the postal workers. They deserve recognition and commendation. They definitely didn't have to do that, to follow through," said Janene. 

According to the article, Canada Post is aware of the scam and warns seniors to be extra careful.


To read the entire article, click here.