Fraud targeting seniors results in charges for Ajax suspects

Published May 1, 2024 at 10:53 am

Two people have been charged in connection to a string of fraud cases targeting elderly victims across the region, including a 90-year-old married couple.

Several victims have received phone calls of late from people claiming to be the victim’s bank or credit card company, according to Durham Police. The victims are told their accounts are compromised.

The scam continues by sending a courier to the victim’s home to take the credit or debit cards. These are then used to make fraudulent purchases. Police did not specify how many victims had been defrauded in this case, or when the scam was active.

However, these grandparent scams as they’re called have become very common in recent years, prompting numerous warnings from police across Ontario. A recent case involved $2.2. million in losses and 14 suspects.

In this latest case, Durham and York Police worked together to identify two suspects. They arrested the pair on April 4.

Lakshanth Selvarajah, 27 from Ajax, faces many fraud-related charges including;