A major fraud scheme in Quebec has led to 16 arrests, focusing on scams targeting vulnerable seniors and costing victims over $1 million.
Quebec: A big fraud operation just went down, and it’s pretty shocking. Police have arrested 16 people for scamming seniors out of their money.
This whole thing started back in December 2022 when the Sûreté du Québec’s Economic Crime Investigation Division got wind of it. They found over 250 cases where folks lost more than a million bucks!
So, here’s how the scam worked. These crooks pretended to be from banks or government agencies, using fancy tech to trick people. They even messed with caller IDs to make it look legit. Sadly, many of the victims are older folks who got fooled into giving away their cash.
The average age of the victims? A whopping 79 years old! It really shows how vulnerable seniors can be to these kinds of scams.
Police had a huge team—over 90 officers—working on this. It’s one of the biggest anti-fraud operations we’ve seen in a while.
As of now, six of the arrested are facing charges in Trois-Rivières and Laval, while the rest are out on bail, waiting for their court dates.
Authorities are really pushing for everyone to stay alert and report anything suspicious to the Sûreté du Québec. If you see something off, don’t hesitate to reach out!
For any tips or info about shady activities, you can call the Sûreté du Québec at 1 800 659-4264. Better safe than sorry!
