Since 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, Sûreté du Québec investigators have been searching a call center allegedly operated by individuals suspected of belonging to a grandparent-type fraud network, in the west of the island of Montreal.
Around fifty investigators, mainly from the National Organized Crime Repression Squad (ENRCO), searched three addresses linked to the same commercial building located on Baie-de-Valois Avenue in Pointe-Claire.
The Sûreté du Québec command post was dispatched to the scene.
Two residences and at least one vehicle are also targeted by search warrants in Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot and Vaudreuil-Dorion.
No suspect will be charged at this time, as these are searches carried out as part of an investigation initiated in 2022.
It is currently unknown whether the network is connected to a criminal organization and if so, which one. But ENRCO’s mandate is to fight against the leaders of organized crime in Quebec.
However, we know that the majority of alleged victims live in the United States.
“Around twenty individuals were identified and met by investigators in the various locations targeted as part of this investigation into grandparent fraud. Different squads were involved. The investigation continues,” announced the Sûreté du Québec on social networks in the middle of the afternoon.
Grandparent-type frauds have grown in recent years in Quebec and Canada.
Organized crime is now believed to be involved in this type of fraud as police observed links with Montreal mafia leaders during an investigation called Partnership in 2021 and, more recently, in another investigation called Sharp and led by the Provincial Police. of Ontario (OPP).
According to sources, fraudsters can, for example, be recruited from among café customers who have accumulated gambling debts to organized crime.
The network can rely on one or more call centers, from where fraudulent calls are made, and which change addresses after a certain time to confuse the police.
The classic victim of grandparent fraud is often a vulnerable and isolated older person who receives a call from someone posing as their grandson or granddaughter, who says they have been arrested and who needs help. an amount of money to obtain his freedom.
During the call, another individual may intervene, posing as a lawyer or a police officer.
The victim may be asked to make a transfer or an accomplice may go to the victim’s home to collect the money.
Evidence gathered during the Partnership investigation showed, among other things, that fraudsters moved to another city or state in the United States after operating there for a certain period of time.