Islander loses $6,500 in latest grandparent scam incident, Summerside police say
Caller told victim their grandchild had been in a collision and needed money for lawyer and bail
Another Prince Edward Island grandparent has fallen victim to a scam that targets people by scaring them about their young relatives.
Summerside Police Services said the latest incident was reported Monday.
A news release issued Wednesday said police "received a call from a victim of the scam reporting that they provided $6,500 to the scammers after receiving communication that their grandchild had been in a collision and needed the funds for a lawyer and bail."
There had been no such incident and the grandchild was not in any trouble.
"Police urge anyone who receives similar calls to check the authenticity of the information before sending any money and to report these types of incidents to their nearest police agency," the police force said.
There were no more details released about the Summerside case, but this kind of scam is becoming increasingly sophisticated with the arrival of artificial intelligence that can mimic the voice patterns of someone's relative based on videos posted to social media.
Earlier this year, two people from Chile who were associated with what police called a "criminal enterprise" were sentenced for their parts in scams carried out across Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
One of them, Luis Luciano David Cortez, acted as a "bail bondsman" who went to victims' houses to pick up the cash.
His girlfriend, Genesis Carvajal Tapia, was later found at a nearby motel holding passports for her and Cortez, along with several thousand dollars in cash.
Both were to be deported as soon as their jail sentences were finished.