Barrie Police investigate elaborate money scheme involving senior victim

CTV News

30-07-2025

A sophisticated plan to scam locals and target a senior is being shared by police.
On Wednesday, just before 9 p.m., the Barrie Police Service received information about a man who had been found injured in a parking lot just off of Lakeshore Drive.
Detectives learned that the man was the victim of a scheme that was designed to defraud him of his money.
According to police, the victim had received an unexpected call from an unknown person stating that he was a suspect in a fraud investigation and police were going to come to his home and arrest him.
The caller allegedly convinced the victim that in order to resolve the situation, he needed to show up to a Collier Street financial institution.
Police say the victim took a cab to that location, where an unknown man reportedly pretended to be the bank manager, saying that the victim needed to go to another bank located at Minets Point Road and Yonge Street.
The senior, who uses a walker, got into the alleged bank manager's car, and at the bank, deposited a cheque into the victim's bank account.
The alleged bank manager, who is now considered the main suspect in this scheme, drove the victim away from the Minets Point Road and Yonge Street bank and stopped in a Lakeshore Drive parking lot, where he removed the victim from the car and allegedly drove away with his walker.
The victim said he fell to the ground. Police discovered facial injuries and he was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The investigation into this incident remains ongoing. 'Barrie Police feel that these details need to be shared with our community so that no one else falls victim to the perpetrators of this unspeakable offense,' shared members of the service.
Investigators are trying to track down the suspect, who is described as a, 30-40 years old man, with a brown complexion, black hair, and a beard, wearing a black shirt, and driving a black Cadillac.