An Alta Sierra resident was fooled last week into trying to wire nearly $3,000 to Canada to help out his “grandson” — but was stopped at the last minute by an alert employee at Walmart.

Hal Berry said the “grandson,” who told him he had been in an accident and needed money, had him completely fooled.

“He told me I was the only one he could turn to,” Berry said. “I fell for it — I'd do anything for my grandson.”

Berry said his “grandson” knew his name and even imitated his voice. Luckily, an employee at Walmart — where he had gone to make the cash transfer — recognized the name of the scammer and prevented him from losing his $3,000.

Berry was lucky, but he was just one victim in a recent surge of scams perpetrated on elderly Nevada County residents. The deception typically involves one man claiming to be the victim's grandson, calling from “jail in Canada.” A second man calls soon thereafter, claiming to be the grandson's lawyer and advising the distraught grandparent to wire money through a wire service.

On Monday alone, two such incidents were reported to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

In one, a 78-year-old woman from Lake of the Pines reported she sent $2,995 to a man in Canada who identified himself as her grandson. The man told her he had been arrested in Canada for driving under the influence and then a man representing himself as her grandson's attorney requested she wire money. She did send the money, through Western Union.

In the second incident, a man from Lake Wildwood had seen recent media reports and did not fall for the scam.

A suspicious son was able to stop his parents, who live in Lake of the Pines, from sending $5,000 to a scammer two weeks ago.

“I got a phone call from them saying there was an emergency,” said Bill Perry.

The supposed victim was Perry's nephew, Lee, who serves in the Air Force in Germany. The scammers told Perry's parents that Lee had been on leave in Canada and had been in a drunk-driving accident, and asked them not to tell anyone.

When Perry's mother noticed the man didn't sound like her grandson, the scammer told her that was because his jaw had been “busted up” in the wreck.

Perry started working to find the cash, but apparently he wasn't moving quickly enough for the scam artist.

“He called back and this time, I was in the house and I got on the phone,” Perry said. “He repeated the whole sob story, but he didn't sound like my nephew at all. So I asked him some questions only my nephew would know and he couldn't answer them.”

Undaunted, the scammer tried to claim he had a concussion before giving up, Perry said.

Wire services such as Western Union make it easy for criminals to conceal their identities, said Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal.

Scammers also have learned to cover their tracks by buying “go-phones,” Royal said — cheap cellular telephones that are equipped with a phone card and listed under a false name and address.

“It's very, very difficult to trace,” Royal said. “And there are so many ways to gain information (about potential victims) on the Internet, that allows them to build some kind of profile of the individual.”

Royal advised focusing on protecting yourself from these kinds of scams by verifying information before sending money.

“Call the grandson, call the jail — but don't rely on the phone numbers you were given,” he said. “Go online or use the phone system.”

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.