Two young Montrealers have been charged in Ottawa with having defrauded several elderly people by posing as their grandchild, a scam well known to police circles, but which continues to claim victims.

Jason Goulet-Fernandez, 22, and Danielle Jimenez-Golez, 19 now face charges of fraud over $5,000, possession of proceeds of crime and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The man and woman are suspected of defrauding at least five Ottawa-area seniors out of $46,000.

They allegedly used the fraudulent “grandparents” type scheme to scam their alleged victims.

“Grandparenting scams involve a person communicating with an elderly person by posing as one of their grandchildren, claiming to have been arrested by the police and then needing money to post a bond. Targeted victims are then enticed to withdraw money, which is then picked up by a courier,” Ottawa police said in a statement.

In the past few months alone, the police force says it has received “more than a dozen complaints” from seniors who have been cheated. The losses amount to more than $100,000.

Given the seriousness of the crimes for which the two young Montrealers are accused and the vulnerability of the people affected, the Ottawa police decided to publish the images of the two accused in the hope of identifying other victims in this case.

Anyone with information regarding this case or who has been a victim of fraud is asked to contact the Ottawa Police Organized Fraud Unit at 613-236-1222 ext. 5292.