Federal agents have returned $7,000 to a Pauoa Valley couple who were tricked by a Canadian woman posing as a relative in trouble.

Canada-based telephone fraudsters targeting senior citizens is quite common, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release said.

Last week, ICE agents returned $6,995 in money orders to the couple in their 80s.

Four months ago, a woman had called and convinced the couple she was a relative being held hostage by an attorney who wanted payment for her bail and legal fees after she was arrested on drunken-driving charges in Canada, the release said.

After sending the money, the couple spoke with the actual family member, who lives in Utah and said she had never been to Canada.

The Canadian Postal Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted the money orders and returned them through ICE. Canadian authorities are investigating.

“;This couple was very fortunate that investigators were able to recover all of their money,”; said Wayne Wills, special agent in charge for the ICE office in Hawaii. “;Unfortunately, that's not often the case. While ICE and its enforcement partners are doing everything possible to stop this kind of fraud, the first line of defense is for people to be suspicious of anyone who calls and asks them to send money.”;

The investigation was part of Project COLT, a combined effort of several U.S. and Canadian agencies.