James Barkley's grandmother, a professional lacrosse player, has always been cautious about scams. After her husband was deceived in the past, she thought she would be astute if someone tried to scam her, saying: "I thought it wouldn't happen to us again," but it turned out she was wrong.

Last week, the 87-year-old woman and her husband were targeted by someone pretending to be their grandson and demanded they pay bail.

The Oakville couple are just two of many grandparents in the Greater Toronto Area who have been preyed upon by those who use the emotion of seniors and their love for their grandchildren to scam thousands of dollars from them.

Many police agencies in the area have warned of an increase in scams targeting grandparents, sometimes called "emergency scams," this year. In the York region, police said that between August 4 and August 11, 13 incidents were reported resulting in losses of more than $50,000. While police have made arrests related to the scams, those involved in the scheme do not seem deterred.

Speaking to CP24.com anonymously, Barkley's grandmother described in detail how the scammers managed to trick her and her husband into handing over $10,000 in cash. This happened on August 22, when the grandmother received a call from an unknown number on a Monday morning.

"Hello Grandma," was the greeting with which the scammer opened the call, leaving the grandmother puzzled, as her eight grandchildren had never referred to her as "Grandma." They had always called her "Nana" or "Nanny."

While the woman was still not fully convinced, she handed the phone to her husband following the fake James's instructions. They were told that (the fake James) informed them that he and his friend named Stephen were driving when the police stopped and arrested them because of the "huge amount" of marijuana found in their car, and then requested that they send the $10,000 needed to bail him out. She said, "We both almost fainted," adding that the fake James asked for the money to be sent before the end of that day.

At that moment, all the couple could think about was their grandson's future, where the grandmother stated: "James is a professional athlete and has got a great job. The last thing we wanted was his name to appear in the newspapers after being involved with drugs."

Barkley plays in the National Lacrosse League (Las Vegas Desert Dogs) and the Premier Lacrosse League (Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club). The elderly woman said, "We simply did what we could," although at that moment, they had no idea where to get the money. She added that the fake James also warned them not to tell anyone else about the situation or else he'd be in more trouble.

With no cash source, the grandmother said she decided to take her jewelry and other inherited items to Oliver Jewellers and handed over $10,000—all in $100 bills.

After receiving the money, the woman said she was instructed where to place it. They were asked to put the money in the center page of a magazine, seal it, and put it inside a white envelope with her husband's name and the judge's name and case number fabricated by the scammers. They were then told that a court officer would come to their home to collect the money, which did not satisfy them. She recounted that she and her husband insisted on handing over the money so they could see their grandson, but the scammers insisted on excuses like the courthouse being two hours away by car.

Then, minutes after one of the scammers arrived to pick up the envelope from in front of the elderly couple's home, the grandmother said he was in a hurry and told them their grandson would call them in a few minutes. When the grandmother called to check on her grandson to see if he had been released from jail, the real James responded that he was not in any jail. At that point, the grandmother and her husband immediately realized they had been victims of a scam. The couple then filed a complaint with Halton police to start an investigation, expressing their disappointment over what happened and feeling guilty for losing all that money.