A septuagenarian who ends up falling into the trap of mischievous crooks by setting up an entire story involving his grandson with the sole goal of getting $4,000 from him invites people to use the holidays to discuss it with their loved ones. To better protect yourself.
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“I thought I wasn’t going to get caught in my life. I’m smart, I have information, I’ve already talked about it with people around me. In my head, it could be seen as a scam, but no,” says Francine Forget Plante.
One morning, she got a call: “Hi Grandma,” a familiar voice on the line.
“I recognized my grandson’s voice. Same way of speaking. Like he really is. Lord, it cannot be,” says the lady, so that he suspects nothing.
The man, who posed as his relative, claimed that he was involved in the road accident because he was using his cell phone while driving. He needed about $4,250 to post bail.
“They’re going to put me in jail, Grandma, if I don’t want to go to jail, I want bail,” the crook told her. “You think about it, and you’ll see it’s pointless,” she lets it fall.
Save your grandson
He then spoke to a fake lawyer who had a calm, reassuring voice. So she rushed to the bank to withdraw the money.
“At that time, I didn’t have time to think about anything other than saving my grandson,” he explains.
And as the lawyer told her over the phone, she invented a little lie at the bank counter to withdraw such amount without raising suspicion among the employees.
“I was warned: ‘Don’t say the money is for your grandson, because that might hinder the proceedings in his case.’ Me, I don’t want him to have a file [criminel] tainted,” she explains Newspaper.
She even told the story to her sister-in-law during the day, and he too fell. “We both encouraged each other and believed in it,” he says.
A few hours later, her grandson’s lawyer called her back and offered to send “a bail agent” to her house to collect the money so she would avoid going to Montreal.
I can still see myself telling him, “You’re so kind.” I thought he was doing a good thing, he was doing me a favor,” she remembers, sighing in discouragement.
Questioning
The bail agent was outside her house when she finally had “a lot of doubts.” He looked too young and was poorly dressed to be an employee of the judiciary, she describes.
Mme Fouquet Plante did not answer the door and instead called the police in Longueuil. Officers immediately arrived at his home.
“We are well aware of the tactic and the event. It is our duty to act quickly. Fraudsters play with a sense of urgency to pressure and make people vulnerable,” explains Sergeant François Boucher, spokesman for the Longueville Aggregation Police Department.
François Boucher with Francine Forget Plante, spokesperson for the Longueuil Municipal Police Service.
PHOTO AGENCY QMI, JOEL LEMAY
This type of fraud brings its share of psychological repercussions and robs an elderly person of all their savings, he adds.
Francine Forget Plante considers herself lucky for these events, but she still feels ashamed and humiliated at being caught: “They’re really looking for your emotions. My sanity was completely gone.
She advises discussing the matter with loved ones during the holidays: “I still blame myself. We all need to talk about this to be aware. If my story can prevent one person from being deceived, it will be a success,” he concludes.
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