How a slick-talking 'lawyer' almost scammed an Ontario senior out of $6K

The call came out of the blue on a Monday afternoon and the story told by the caller was so detailed and well told, the scam came very close to working. 

Tom Szczesniak, 76, was at home in Toronto when his phone rang. 

The caller was a smooth talker who claimed to be a lawyer named "Alan Miller."

"He said my son had been in a car accident, but that he was OK," said Szczesniak. "My adrenaline was really pumping."

The "lawyer" said Szczesniak's son Stephan, who lives in Stratford, Ont., was in hospital. From there the caller layered on more detail — and a lot of passable legal lingo — which made the story seem incredibly believable. 

The caller said Szczesniak's adult son was in hospital and had suffered a broken nose. Worse than that, he'd hit another car causing a young child in that vehicle to suffer "a broken femur." Also, the caller said the crash was being investigated as an impaired driving offence. The caller said Szczesniak would need to quickly send $6,000 to cover bail or his son could wind up with a permanent criminal record.

Then the pitch took a more sinister turn.

A few minutes into the call, the attempted scammer told Szczesniak he was going to hang up the phone, and that Szczesniak's son Stephan would call him.

The phone rang again, and a man claiming to be Stephan Szczesniak was on the phone talking in a strained mumble due to the "broken nose." All Tom could understand was that his son was in pain and needed help. 

Scammer 'was very nice'

Szczesniak said at first the man's story seemed very believable. 

"I was eating it all up," he said. "I was freaked out." 

Szczesniak was told he needed to transfer the $6,000 before 5 p.m. and that if the deadline wasn't met, Stephan could wind up with a criminal record.

Part of what made Tom believe the caller, at least initially, is that the man did a good job of playing the role of a stranger offering help at a stressful time. 

"He was very nice," said Szczesniak. "He came across as trying to be calming while delivering this terrible news to me." 

A few minutes into the the call Tom's wife, Linda, who was in the room, began to smell a rat — though she also admits the caller's story was difficult to dismiss outright. She suggested calling Stephan's wife Jean to verify the story, though Tom was worried it would upset her. 

'This doesn't sound right'

"She looked at me and she said, 'This doesn't sound right," said Szczesniak. "I started to think that, too, but also kept thinking that this was too real to be a scam." 

The second Szczesniak's wife called his son in Stratford to confirm the story, the man posing as a lawyer ended the call.

Szczesniak said having a second person in the room was key to foiling the hoax. 

"If I was on my own, I might have let the call continue. It was like, 'How could somebody have made all this up?'" he said.

Emergency scams cost seniors millions

The foiled swindle appears to be a spin on a common type of scam that tries to extort seniors by creating a fake crisis to manipulate their emotions enough that they become willing to transfer money without questioning the story.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has flagged these kind of scams as a growing problem. 

There's the "emergency scam," the kind that targeted Szczesniak. However the "grandparent scam" is also common. In that one, the caller poses as a grandchild in some kind of trouble that requires cash.

The victims are caught off guard and made to feel that they must act quickly to help a loved one. The people targeted are also often told that involving anyone else to help, even family members, will make worse their loved one's bad situation.

The victims are typically asked to send money urgently for bail, legal fees, medical costs or other expenses and told to keep quiet about the situation. In some cases, the scammers mention the need to not violate a court-issued gag order. 

The scams are persistent and for the con artists, very lucrative. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported losses from such scams was $2.4 million in 2021. But that number climbed to $9.6 million in 2022 and $11.3 million in 2023.

How to protect yourself

The Anti-Fraud Centre has these tips to help prevent falling victim to these kinds of scams: 

• If you receive a suspicious phone call claiming to be from a family member in an emergency situation, hang up the phone and contact them directly on the number you have in your contact list.
• If the caller claims to be a law enforcement official and asked you to pay a fine or bail, hang up and call your police directly.
• Listen to that inner voice that is screaming at you: "This doesn't sound right".
• Be careful what you post online. Scammers can use details shared on social media platforms and dating sites for targeting purposes. Suspects can easily gather names and details about your loved ones.
• Be suspicious of telephone calls that require you to immediately take action and request bail money for a family member in distress.
• Be careful with caller ID numbers that look familiar. Scammers use technology to disguise the actual number they are calling from and make it appear as a trusted phone number.
• If you receive an email or text message claiming to be from a friend or loved one asking for money, make the outgoing call to the person by looking up the legitimate phone number you have for them in your contact list.
• Use unique and strong passwords for all social media and email accounts.

London Morning7:14How a Stratford man's father nearly fell victim to a 'grandparent scam'

The RCMP says "emergency" or "grandparent scams" targeting seniors are becoming a larger issue. Scammers target victims claiming to be a family member in urgent need of money, or someone calling on their behalf. Canadian victims lost over $9.2 million to the scam last year, up from $2.4 million in 2021. London Morning spoke with Stephan Sczesniak of Stratford, who explained how his 76-year-old father nearly became a victim.