By Mary Owen
When Dave Delapp got a call from his grandson asking for help, he didn’t think twice.
“But the call I got was a huge scam,” said the grandfather from Lyons. “When I got the call at 10:30 in the morning, I could swear it was my grandson’s voice. A half hour later, he called back, then three times on my cell phone.”
The caller told Delapp that he and a friend had gone to Vancouver, B.C. to a wedding. He said he was driving a rental car and had gotten a slight fender-bender. Police had arrested him, he said, for driving after having a few drinks at the event. He told Delapp he had been released from jail, but owed the car rental company $2,400 in damages sustained in the accident.
“He told me, ‘Grandpa, I can pay you back,’” said Delapp. “That should have given me a clue. He’s been out of work and not making much money. It would have been hard for him to do.”
Delapp said he had helped his grandson before, paying his way through computer school and with other things.
“I should have known,” he said of the lie. “He’s 28 and on his own. He’s a good kid, and you’d never find him in a bar at all. I thought he had just gotten in over his head.”
After receiving several phone calls, Delapp hurried to his bank in Stayton and withdrew the amount to send, as per directions, via Western Union to the Vancouver number his alleged grandson had given him. However, the funds ended up being given to someone in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario. “All this time, I had never been suspicious,” Delapp said. “I wired him the money, and never heard from him again. He doesn’t return calls very much, so I didn’t think too much about it.”
Delapp was in the dark until meetings with family members confirmed his grandson was never in Vancouver, B.C. nor had he been arrested or in an accident.
“I’ve been in the real estate business for 45 years, and I’ve been subjected to scams, but this seemed very real,” he said in his own defense.
The Ontario Provincial Police in cooperation with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warn people that the Grandparent Scam, a variation of the widespread Emergency Scam now floating the Internet, is real. More than 3,000 Americans were victimized by this scam last year, with a dollar loss of more than $14 million, according to a report put out by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre Criminal Intelligence Analytical Unit in 2009.
The CAFC reported Western Union as the payment method most used to receive funds.
“Western Union should be held responsible for handing that money to someone other than who I told them to,” Delapp said. “They didn’t ask for identification to retrieve it on the other end other than the control number I was given for the transaction.”
Delapp recently filed a complaint with the company and has talked to Oregon’s attorney general about the scam. He also plans to write his legislators.
“I don’t want anyone else to become a victim,” he said.
Delapp was more fortunate than most victims. His insurance policy covered all but a $500 deductible for the amount lost in the money transfer.
“Not all policies have that, so you should check to make sure,” he said. “And if you are scammed, call the local authorities.”
The OPP strongly suggests anyone receiving a request for money takes measures to verify the requestor’s identity and the truth of their story. Anyone who suspects an attempt at victimization is urged to call the CAFC at 888-495-8501.
Formerly known as Phonebusters, the CAFC was established in January 1993 and is jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau Canada.
Information on the Grandparent Scam can be found at www.phonebusters.com.
