Authorities have arrested 25 Canadian nationals for allegedly defrauding elderly Americans of millions of dollars in a fake bail bond scheme, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The scam involved the defendants allegedly calling elderly people from call centers in and around Montreal, Canada, posing as the target’s family member.
The callers usually presented themselves as grandchildren in urgent need of money for bail after getting arrested for a car crash, the ICE said. Other participants reportedly acted as attorneys.
“Elderly victims were convinced to provide bail money to an individual falsely posing as a bail bondsman, who would come to the elderly victim’s home to collect the money,” according to the agency.
“This money was later transmitted to Canada following cash deliveries and financial transactions, sometimes involving cryptocurrency, which, the indictment alleges, obscured the source of the money and the identities of defendants.”
To ensure silence on the matter, the victims were allegedly told by defendants there was a gag order in place preventing them from divulging the issue to anyone.
The fraud operation was carried out between the summer of 2021 and June 4 last year. Five individuals alleged to be call center managers were charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and face a prison term of up to 40 years if convicted. Other defendants face up to 20 years of imprisonment.
“These individuals are accused of an elaborate scheme using fear to extort millions of dollars from victims who believed they were helping loved ones in trouble,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael Krol in a statement.
“Tackling transnational crime is one of our greatest priorities and we’re working hand-in-hand with our neighbors to dismantle organized criminal groups that threaten our safety and security.”
Authorities have recently taken action against multiple other schemes that defrauded elderly people of their wealth.
This week, an investment adviser from California, Julie Anne Darrah, pleaded guilty to stealing around $2.25 million from elderly people who were clients of her investment advisory venture.
Exploiting the Elderly
In December, several regulatory agencies urged financial institutions to implement strict measures to protect older adults from financial scams.Such exploitation is estimated to cause annual losses of over $28 billion, said the agencies, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
“Elder financial exploitation is the illegal use of an older adult’s funds or other resources for the benefit of an unauthorized recipient,” said the agencies.
“[Such abuse] can deprive older adults of their life savings in whole or in part, devastate their financial security, and cause other harm.”
An FBI report shows there were over 101,000 elder fraud complaints in 2023. People above the age of 60 reported an average loss of $33,915, which was 270 percent higher than the $9,175 average loss in 2020.
In October, the DOJ said it worked with law enforcement partners to pursue at least 300 enforcement actions between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, against more than 700 defendants alleged to have engaged in scamming elders.
Defendants reportedly stole almost $700 million from more than 225,000 older victims. The DOJ worked with financial institutions to freeze over $27 million on behalf of the victims to prevent the defrauded funds from being transferred to scammers.
The agency’s “National Elder Fraud Hotline also received over 50,000 calls this past year, and helped older victims to report potential crimes and to locate available resources and services.”
