Durham Regional Police say they’re working to identify a man who allegedly defrauded a 77-year-old Pickering woman while pretending to be her grandson.
Police said in a news release that officers received a call regarding a fraud on Sept. 24.
The news release said a man contacted the victim, pretended to be her grandson and said he was in jail.
The suspect allegedly then placed another male on the phone who claimed to be a court representative who needed $9,000 for bail.
The victim then went to a bank, withdrew funds and met the suspect in order to pay, police said.
The suspect was described as being in his 20s or 30s and had a medium build, brown eyes, black hair, and was wearing an Adidas face mask and black clothing.
Durham police said there have been five reported incidents involving the so-called “grandparent scam” within the past three weeks. In Ajax, a victim was allegedly defrauded of $27,000 in the same type of scam. That incident was reported on Sept. 16.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2529 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
