Feds in Vermont Bust Montréal Scam Ring Targeting Elderly

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Federal prosecutors in Vermont have charged more than two dozen Canadians with running a sophisticated cybercrime ring in Montréal that scammed more than $21 million out of elderly Americans in nearly every U.S. state.

The court unsealed indictments against 25 alleged members of a conspiracy on Tuesday, and prosecutors said another nine participants in the cross-border scheme had already been charged.

They’re accused of orchestrating a type of ruse known as the “grandparent scam,” in which a caller poses as an elderly victim’s relative and pleads for bail money. The scams, according to prosecutors, were organized in a series of call centers in and around Montréal but also employed phony bail bondsmen who would visit victims’ homes in Vermont and other states to collect the money.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Michael Drescher said in a statement that the case resulted from investigative work by numerous federal agencies, with assistance from Canadian law enforcement.

All but two of the 25 alleged coconspirators were arrested in Canada on Tuesday, prosecutors said. Gareth West, a 38-year-old man from Burlington, Ontario, and 35-year-old Jimmy Ylimaki, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Québec, remain at large.

West is alleged to have managed the illicit call centers along with four others who are in custody.

Transnational cybercrime rings are notoriously difficult to unravel because they cross international boundaries and their leaders typically take measures to insulate themselves. Paid couriers sometimes don’t know whom they’re working for, Seven Days reported in a cover story last summer.

Losses from cyber fraud have been increasing in Vermont and nationally in the past several years, fueled in part by the proliferation of cryptocurrency. Scammers often target older victims because they are more likely to have savings to plunder and are perceived to be more susceptible, though research shows that anyone can fall prey to a well-crafted con.

This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2025.