Nelson RCMP warn public of 'nephew in trouble' phone scam
By Nelson Daily Staff
Nelson RCMP are urging the public to be aware of phone scam circulating through the area after receiving calls from the public regarding money sent to a person claiming to be a nephew in trouble.
RCMP Cst. Bill Long said in a media release the police received two separate reports of this scam.
Cst. Long said the story had the nephew to be either been involved in a crash with an out of province rental vehicle and in need of cash to pay for the damages through the same out-of-province lawyer or was in the hospital needing cash for medical expenses.
In both cases Cst. Long said money was sent out of concern for the well being of the nephew to the appeared to be legitimate lawyers or doctors via a MoneyGram.
Police are urging anyone receiving calls of this nature to immediately follow up with family members before sending any currency.
“This type of scam relies on suspect access to social media sites who then use those family connections to then make the calls targeting the family member’s emotions to send the money,” Cst. Long explained.
“The calls usually come in as “private” numbers and they never leave a number they can be reached and/or use a false name which makes it near impossible to investigate,” Cst. Long added.
Anyone who has experienced similar incidents can call Nelson RCMP at 250-352-2156.
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