Two North Perth residents lose thousands in grandparent scam

An undated stock image of a person texting on a smart phone. (Anna Shvets/Pexels)

Perth County Ontario Provincial Police are putting out a warning after two separate people were targeted by a grandparent scam just before Christmas.

Police said both people were called by someone claiming to be a family member.

Police said the person would tell the victims over the phone that their voice sounded different because they had broken their nose in the crash.

The caller said they were in jail after a crash and needed to be bailed out. Another person claiming to be a lawyer would tell the victims someone would come to their homes to collect the bond money.

One victim lost $5,000 while the other lost $5,500.

The suspect who came to the victim’s homes in both instances was described to police as a Black man between 20 and 50-years-old. He was 5’5” to 5’10” tall and wore all black with a black toque.