Surveillance, stakeouts and wiretaps: How police build cases against Montreal grandparent scam networks

Matthew Lapierre · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

CBC News is investigating grandparent scams and their links to Montreal. This communicative is portion 3 of a three-part series. Read portion 1 and two. 

Over the past 4 years, teams of constabulary officers person arrested astatine slightest 50 radical successful the Montreal country who, they say, were progressive successful 3 elaborate grandparent scam networks that defrauded the aged retired of millions of dollars. 

Law enforcement officials accidental the fig of grandparent scams grew during the COVID pandemic and they are lone present starting to spot less of them — a result, they say, of accrued constabulary enactment and arrests. 

But large enforcement operations that people larger networks and their leaders instrumentality time, effort and co-ordination betwixt constabulary forces. Court documents amusement that it takes hundreds of hours of surveillance, including stakeouts and wiretaps, to physique a lawsuit against a large grandparent scam network.

And it tin instrumentality years to successfully prosecute a lawsuit against the alleged members of a scam network. 

Once the grounds has been collected, constabulary raid the telephone centres and marque arrests. But they don't complaint the suspects yet. 

In astir cases, erstwhile constabulary person targeted grandparent scam networks successful Montreal implicit the past 4 years, they person released the suspects aft a raid and past charged them months oregon adjacent much than a twelvemonth later. 

WATCH | Why are truthful galore grandparent scams linked to Montreal?

This is present modular signifier and is owed to tribunal delays, constabulary say. Prosecutors don't privation their cases to beryllium thrown retired by a alleged Jordan ruling, which sets clip limits for tenable delays aft which a lawsuit whitethorn beryllium dismissed. 

One lawsuit involving a Montrealer named David Anthony Di Rienzo and a radical of alleged accomplices has yet to spell to proceedings contempt the suspects being archetypal arrested successful March 2021. 

The radical allegedly tally by Di Rienzo exclusively targeted American seniors, according to a summary of the grounds against the group filed successful court.

Another Montreal-based group, allegedly tally by an Ontarian named Gareth West, has been accused by American authorities of orchestrating a akin scam, besides targeting American seniors. 

These scams besides impact Canadians.

More arrests starring to less cases

One ample constabulary cognition called Project Sharp, led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), led to the arrests of 14 radical successful the Montreal-area successful 2024. They are are accused of defrauding Canadian seniors retired of much than $1.2 million. 

Cmdr. Steve Belzil, the caput of the economical crimes part astatine the Service de Police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM), said Montreal constabulary supported those investigations, helping the OPP and constabulary successful the U.S. to stitchery grounds and more.

But helium said the SPVM besides performs its ain investigations. Officers investigated much than 140 cases of grandparent scams successful 2022, past 188 successful 2023 and now, the fig dropped to 121 cases successful 2024. 

He said constabulary action, including those larger investigations successful which the SPVM played a relation alongside the FBI and the OPP, are having an impact.

"Is determination an effect of the raids connected numbers? I deliberation so," helium said. "What we're seeing successful our investigations and from our partners is that determination are tons of arrests happening successful Montreal. We're determination with our teams."

Fraud cases are underreported

Jeff Horncastle, a lawsuit and communications outreach serviceman astatine the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), said successful an interrogation that these operations look to beryllium having an effect connected the grandparent scammers. 

Last year, the CAFC recorded a alteration successful the magnitude of wealth that Canadians reported losing to grandparent scammers — down from $11.6 cardinal successful 2023 to $3.2 cardinal successful 2024. 

That alteration was "largely owed to — from what we recognize — a fewer arrests that were done [and] networks unopen down," Horncastle said. 

The CAFC's numbers don't see wealth defrauded from Americans and radical successful different countries, however.

A 2024 Nasdaq Verafin study recovered that 1 successful 10 aged Americans were targeted each year, to a tune of $77.7 cardinal US of reported planetary fraud.

But adjacent these numbers whitethorn not connection a afloat representation of the scale. Horncastle said fraud is 1 of the astir underreported crimes. 

The CAFC estimates lone 5 to 10 per cent of victims really study their fraud to their organization.

How to help

Horncastle urged victims to study fraud to constabulary — but besides to the CAFC to assistance with nationwide tracking of scam networks. Court documents amusement that 1 of the ways scammers effort to conceal their fraud is by varying the cities and regions they target. 

"The much accusation we person the better, truthful ever retrieve that what you could beryllium reporting could beryllium the missing portion of the puzzle," Horncastle said. 

WATCH | What to bash if you get a telephone demanding payment: 

The CAFC besides shares champion practices for imaginable victims to support themselves.

The astir important thing, Horncastle said, is to beryllium skeptical. If a comparative calls asking for money, accidental you'll telephone them backmost and usage the number saved successful your contacts.

Belzil, the SPVM commander, emphasized the aforesaid constituent — to telephone your loved 1 to cheque if the petition is real. "Always retrieve to validate," helium said, "to telephone the person. Even if they [the scammers] accidental you shouldn't call." 

It tin besides beryllium beneficial to person an exigency codification connection shared with your loved ones. 

"In a batch of reports and astir successful each case, there's an interior voice. It's benignant of screaming astatine you that thing doesn't look close with this," Horncastle said. 

"But owed to the information that they're playing with emotions, victims spell done with it. If you perceive to that interior dependable and that instinct from the beginning, you could prevention yourself from being a victim."