RCMP and Legal Aid Lawyer

Kristy –

Type of a scam Family/Friend Emergency

First call received this am @ 10:57 from our son (first voice was my son’s). There was no one there when I said hello the first time, then he came on saying "mom?" I said yes, where are you? He told me that he’d been in an accident, he was at the Police station & needed my help to speak to the Police b/c he was so upset, will I talk to them for him? I asked him what happened, and he told me that he took his eye off the road to read a text & rear ended someone – no one was hurt……was a totally stupid thing to do….. I said I would, he appeared to "hand over the phone" to someone saying here, this is my Mom.

A man came on the phone identifying himself as constable ??? didn’t catch the name & didn’t ask for a repeat, b/c it was my Son’s voice first. He told me not to panic, everything is fine, it’s just that my son had gotten him into a predicament – but he was certain it could be cleared up today….my son is asking for my help. He explained that my son was clearly distraught and upset & typically they don’t speak to family on a person’s behalf, but he could clearly see how upset my son was & was doing him a favor – he appears to be a nice person. He told me same details as what my son & I discussed & added that he is being held with charges of negligence. He advised that he felt it could be cleared today, as it was not serious, no one was hurt, and this is his first time offense. He told me they are in the process of providing my son with a legal aid attorney, papers just put in front of him, the attorney’s name is Harvey Perkins. He asked if Mr. Perkins could call me in 5 – 10 minutes, I told him yes, and he asked me to refrain from using the phone or taking calls on it.

11:22 – Mr. Perkins called – sharing that my son is being held in custody & has been charged with negligence but being his 1st offense, no serious damage & no one hurt – he shared that he sees cases similar to this approx 10 – 15 week, and he was almost certain that the judge – using "his conditions" – would be able to have this resolved today. ($’s). From speaking with my son, he says my son is embarrassed by what has happened & simply wants it to go away, he doesn’t want anyone else to know about this but me. *son is married & has family…

He then went on to ask if there was anyone else in the house who may know of this? I told him no.

This particular judge today would likely choose to have a donation made to a charity to resolve this issue.

I asked who chooses which charity gets the donation? He responded – the judge chooses. In this case this judge chooses a kids after school charity.

OR – my son could do volunteer work or community services….he thinks though, that just by what he’s seen of my son, he is very apologetic and he’s likely learned his lesson. After all – my son CAN CLAIM, the money he "donates to charity" back with his MPI claim. So I ask him, well then this "loan" of money to my son, would be just that a loan & I’d get it all back by my son placing a claim through insurance? His response was, that likely my son would see only 85%….but a small price to pay for a resolution so quick.

By the way – just want to make sure you know – your son is not being held in a cell. He has had all his personals taken from him ie: watch, cell phone, jewellery, wallet…and has been seen by a nurse – he is okay.

So, what do you think you’d like to do for your son – resolve today with donation or do service work?

I then ask how much of a donation are we talking about – he responds, $4,000.

surprised, I ask, why so much – he explains that 18 months ago there were changes – the amt. used to be the amt of damages assessed on site by police, but now, it can no longer be assessed on site of accident. People can still claim the donation thru MPI…

So I played along, and said okay, the donation.

How do I make this donation – where do I take this money?

His response: we can do this a few different ways.

1). you can issue a cheque & mail it to the charity, but this takes time & your son may not get the same judge when he appears for court another day…so probably not the best option

2). you can deliver it to the charity office, which in your case, let me see….3 1/2 hour drive there, 1/2 hour in their office, and 3 1/2 hour drive home – 7 hours in total

3). OR Gift Cards – you could go to a local store – Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire and purchase STEAM Gift cards. I should warn you though – that the lady from the charity advises that folks that choose this option, sometimes get asked – especially at Shoppers DM, when the cashier is scanning all the gift cards – the cashier will get a message on her screen to ask you if you are paying for CRA taxes with these cards – I should tell her NO, that I’m making a donation to a Children’s Charity. If you choose this option – in my opinion the best, I’ll call you back to get the serial # of the GC’s from you, that I can prove to the charity that they (the charity) can issue the receipt & fax it to you today, your son’s situation will be resolved today & he will be released. & all is good. Oh and don’t forget to hold on to your receipts! This is the quickest.

I asked him what denominations does he think I should purchase?….

Probably $100’s or $500’s would be the easiest….

I commented that it seems like a large sum to give to ONE child in need…

Guess I gave myself away, he said clearly you’re not convinced about sending Gift Cards, let me call the charity back to see if they could be a bit lenient & provide another option. Give me 15 – 20 minutes?

Certainly….. I responded, now having kept this slime from targeting someone else for almost 1 hour …..taking my notes & headed to local RCMP to report.

Please share this case.

I worked for a financial institution for 25+ years & thought I was quite familiar with scams, but what stumps me – is my son’s voice on the call.

Glad I thought of writing down all the details as conversation was happening. Hope it helps others.

*just as important as it was when the kids were small – to have a secret word, code, saying between the two of you to know a conversation was legit (someone else picking you up from school etc). so it should be between you now – especially when they can clone or duplicate someone’s voice!