Jewelry store clerk saves Waterloo woman from grandparent scam

A local woman almost fell victim to the grandparent scam, if it wasn't for a quick-thinking clerk at a Waterloo jewelry store.

Someone had called the woman, pretending to be her grandchild and said he'd been in a car accident.

The caller convincedthe senior to head to a jewelry store to buy an expensive watch, which the scammer saidwould get him out of trouble.

When the woman tried to buy the watch, an alert clerk became suspicious, and called police.

Scammers using social media

Const.David Lea of the Waterloo Region Police Service says the fraudstershave long lists of potential targets and go through them one by one untilthey get someone vulnerable on the line.

They also look up their targets on social media, so they build a convincing backstory and better mimic family members. They usually ask for large sums of money or expensive pieces of jewelry.

"If you get a call like this and you're really concerned, make an independent phone call using the telephone number you know and speak to that person," advises Const. Lea.

He also recommends if you suspect a family member could be vulnerable to the scheme,talk to them about it. More information about this and otherfraudulent schemes is availablefrom the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.