Two more people have been charged in ongoing “grandparent scams” targeting Calgary’s seniors.
Police said they were contacted by a senior last Thursday who said someone pretended to be his nephew over the phone. According to police, the caller claimed that the nephew was in trouble after being arrested and he needed thousands of dollars in cash to get out on bail.
Read more: 3 charged in numerous ‘grandparent scams’ in Calgary: CPS
The caller advised his “uncle” couldn’t talk about it to anyone else and the senior was then contacted by a second person claiming to be the nephew’s lawyer, police said.
The senior hung up, called his real nephew to confirm the story and then reported the incident to the police. The Calgary Police Service said officers were at the senior’s home when the person came to pick up the cash.
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A second person was arrested last Friday.
Read more: Calgary man linked to numerous ‘grandparent scams’ charged by CPS
Nicky Cotroni-Bruno, 39, and Patrick Gill, 32, from Mascouche, Que. were charged with one count of defrauding a person over $5,000. Gill was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 26.
Cortroni-Bruno was released from custody but failed to appear in court on Monday. A warrant has now been issued for his arrest. He is described as approximately 225 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Cotroni-Bruno’s whereabouts are asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers.
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