'They had me hook, line and sinker': Quebecer describes close call with phone scam

A man from Ormstown, Que. says he came very close to handing $1,000 over to strangers after he was duped in an elaborate phone scam.

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"These guys, they deserve an Oscar, they really put on a show," said Hugh Maynard, who lives in the Chateauguay Valley, about 70 kilometres southwest of Montreal. "They had me hook, line and sinker." 

Maynard said he received a phone call on Monday, the person on the other end of the line pretended to be his son, and said he had been in a car accident and had broken his nose, "which means that you can't really understand him right."

He said the scammers have a script that helps them find out information and use it to further mislead the victim into believing the scenario is real.

"The guy said, 'I'm your son.' I said, 'Chris is that you?' Because I didn't recognize the voice. Then they got my son's name."

Maynard said once they had that name, they handed the phone over to someone pretending to be his lawyer who said the son had failed a breathalyzer test and was in jail in Gatineau needing bail money.

The scammer added pressure by saying that if the money was received by 1 p.m. that same day, his son would be released. Otherwise he would have to stay in custody.

Inner alarm bell rang just in time

Maynard and his wife drove to the Western Union in Ormstown and were about to transfer the money, until a happy coincidence happened. He received an email from his actual son about something completely unrelated.

"And it just hit me like a ton of bricks that this was a scam," he said. They didn't go through with it and instead went to police.

Maynard said he is embarrassed by what happened, and that normally, he and his wife would have asked so many more questions.

"It was our son, he was in trouble. We were going to help him."

Maynard runs his own business and said that he and his employees are constantly talking about how to keep their computer and bank accounts secure.

"Ordinarily, what you would do is ask some more detailed questions, but you're so upset by what's happened that reason just goes out the window," he said.

How to spot a scam

Maynard, a familiar voice to many CBC listeners in Quebec as a longtime commentator on Radio Noon's former farm panel, is sharing his story to help other people avoid the same trap.

He said the scammers probably didn't have much information about him, but they may have picked up some details from Facebook. He believes he offered most of the information, through the pair's carefully planned script.

Maynard recommends being skeptical if someone is asking you to transfer money through Western Union or another business that is not a bank.

He wishes that he had asked simple verification questions, such as asking for his son's middle name, or that he had taken a moment to call his son on his cell.

"Easy for me to say now – I've just been through it," Maynard said. "I didn't do it when I was on the line myself."

If you think you have been approached by scammers, the RCMP recommends you call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

If you have given money to suspected fraudsters, you should contact your local police.