A new wave of an old Canada-based scam in which con artists trick elderly residents out of money by claiming to be imprisoned grandchildren has been working its way through the San Gabriel Valley in recent months.

Two elderly West Covina residents and an elderly Arcadia resident have reported being conned out of more than $31,000 in January in so-called “grandparent scam,” investigators said.

West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said officials are concerned this type of scam may go unreported in many cases.

“It is believed that this crime generally does not get reported because the victim is either embarrassed that they fell for the scam or they know that the chances of getting their money back is minimal,” he said.

But the more victims come forward, the more clues detectives will have to work with, Arcadia police Sgt. Tom Le Veque said.

An Arcadia couple was duped out of more than $17,000 between Jan. 25 and 27 by two con artists posing as their grandson, Le Veque said.

The scammer told the husband and wife, ages 83 and 80, that his friend was in a Mexican jail for possession of marijuana and he needed bail money, he said. The con artist told the victims not to tell their children about it.

Follow-up calls came from the “grandson,” as well as another man claiming to be a San Diego police sergeant who provided information on how to send money, police said.

A similar crime was reported in Arcadia on Oct. 19 in which a man was tricked into sending $7,500 to people who claimed to represent the U.S. Embassy in Spain.

The crooks told the man his grandson had been arrested and needed bail money. After complying, the man learned his grandson had never been to Spain.

Unsuccessful attempts at the scam were reported to Arcadia police around the same time.

West Covina police detectives are investigating two similar crimes reported in their city in January.

A man called an 80-year-old womanJan. 28 saying he was her grandson and had been in a drunken driving crash but the judge would drop the charges if he paid for the property damage to the other person’s car, Lopez said. A second con artist posing as the grandson’s lawyer convinced her to wire $4,758 to the Dominican Republic, where he claimed the victim of the crash lived.

“The victim in this case thought the caller sounded like her grandson on the phone,” Lopez said.

“The victim’s grandson was contacted after the money was sent,” Lopez said. “He was never arrested by anyone.”

A week earlier on Jan. 21, a 78-year-old woman was called by a someone claiming to be a San Diego police sergeant. The man said her grandson was in jailand needed court fees and bail money, and convinced her to wire a total of $9,450 in two installments.

She, too, later learned her grandson had not been arrested.

Authorities were looking into the similarities between the scams reported in Arcadia and West Covina.

All the phone numbers given to victims have Canadian area codes. The scammers often know the name of the grandchild they are impersonating, officials said, though it was unclear how the information was being gathered or the how the victims were being chosen.

The con artists have been known to cry and apologize for not calling more often before relating tales of woe and asking for money, Le Veque said.

“They’re going to prey on emotions, the fact that maybe they’ll believe it is indeed a grandson or grandchild,” he said.

Though the grandparent scam has been seeing a resurgence in the San Gabriel Valley, it has been going on for years.

In October 2009, a 75-year-old Whittier man wired $2,800 to a con artist who convinced him that his nephew was ordered by a judge to pay for damages to a rental car after a traffic collision in Toronto, Canada.

He was about to send thousands of dollars more when an alert Wal-Mart employee tipped him off that he was being scammed.

Anyone who receives a call claiming a relative is in jail is advised to ask what department arrested them, then look up that agency’s phone number and call to verify the story.

Officials advise not to accept a phone number from the “relative,” as it will likely connect to another con artist who will pose as a police representative.

Since the con artists appear to be based outside the United States, the crimes are admittedly difficult to prosecute, investigators said. Additionally, the con artists tend to use prepaid cell phones and fraudulent names.

With solid leads, however, local authorities said they may be able to work with foreign authorities to bring the scammers to justice.