25 Canadians Arrested for Defrauding Elderly Americans of Over $21 Million

March 8, 2025 TruthUSA

The scammers impersonated grandchildren in desperate need of funds for bail.

As reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 25 Canadian nationals have been arrested on charges of defrauding elderly Americans out of millions through a fraudulent bail bond scheme.

These arrests were made provisionally by Canadian authorities following indictments from a federal grand jury in Vermont that charged the individuals with participating in the “grandparent scam” revealed by ICE, as mentioned in a March 5 statement. The scheme purportedly defrauded elderly victims across more than 40 states, accumulating over $21 million in losses.

The scam’s perpetrators allegedly operated from call centers based in and around Montreal, Canada, posing as relatives of the elderly targets.

During these calls, they typically claimed to be grandchildren urgently needing bail money after supposedly being arrested due to a car accident, according to ICE. Some of the accomplices posed as lawyers.

“Elderly victims were persuaded to hand over bail money to a person falsely representing themselves as a bail bondsman, who would then visit the victim’s home to collect the funds,” reported the agency.

“The cash was subsequently sent to Canada through various cash deliveries and financial transactions, occasionally including cryptocurrency, which the indictment claims obscured the origins of the money and the identities of the defendants.”

To maintain confidentiality, victims were reportedly informed by the defendants of a gag order that prevented them from discussing the matter with anyone.

The fraudulent activities occurred between the summer of 2021 and June 4 of last year. Five alleged call center managers have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and could face up to 40 years in prison if found guilty. Other defendants could receive sentences of up to 20 years.

“These individuals are accused of running a sophisticated scheme that used fear tactics to extort millions from victims who believed they were assisting family members in distress,” stated Michael Krol, a special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

“Addressing transnational crime is a top priority for us, and we are collaborating closely with our partners to dismantle organized crime groups that endanger our communities.”

Recently, authorities have taken steps against various other schemes that targeted the elderly.

This week, California investment adviser Julie Anne Darrah pleaded guilty to embezzling approximately $2.25 million from older clients of her advisory practice.

Darrah executed the crime “by taking control of her victims’ assets and then—without their knowledge or agreement—selling their security holdings and transferring the earnings to accounts that she controlled,” according to a statement from the DOJ reported.

In another case, a Maryland man was sentenced to 42 months of imprisonment for his involvement in an elder fraud operation that resulted in victims losing over $467,000.

Exploitation of Older Adults

In December, various regulatory bodies urged financial institutions to adopt stringent measures to safeguard older adults from financial scams.

Such abuses are estimated to cause annual losses exceeding $28 billion, according to statements from agencies including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

“Elder financial exploitation refers to the illegal use of an older adult’s funds or assets for the benefit of an unauthorized party,” the agencies stated.

“[Such abuse] can leave older adults with diminished life savings, severely impact their financial security, and lead to other forms of harm.”

According to an FBI report, there were over 101,000 complaints of elder fraud in 2023. Individuals over the age of 60 reported an average loss of $33,915, which is a staggering 270 percent increase from the average loss of $9,175 in 2020.

In October, the DOJ announced its collaboration with law enforcement partners to initiate at least 300 enforcement actions from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, against more than 700 defendants accused of perpetrating fraud against the elderly.

The defendants allegedly swindled nearly $700 million from over 225,000 older victims. The DOJ has cooperated with financial institutions to freeze over $27 million on behalf of the victims to prevent the stolen funds from being moved to scammers.

“The department has strengthened the efforts of state and local organizations, including elder abuse multidisciplinary teams and Elder Justice Coalitions, to better assist older adults while also supporting more than 4,600 victim assistance organizations across the country to provide services to over 200,000 elderly victims,” the DOJ reported.

The agency’s “National Elder Fraud Hotline also received over 50,000 calls in the past year, helping older victims report potential crimes and find available resources and services.”

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