(MUNICIPALITY OF NORTH PERTH, ON) – On Saturday March 05, 2016, the Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in Listowel received a call from a resident who had been defrauded.
Investigation revealed that early that morning, the victim received a phone call from someone purporting to be calling from their credit card company advising that their account had been hacked.
The caller, who seemed to possess a lot of the victim’s personal information, advised that two large transactions on the victim’s credit card were questionable. One was a retail purchase while the second was a Western Union money transfer to an individual in China. The victim was told that Western Union security and the RCMP were also involved in a sting operation and requested assistance in arresting the culprits.
The victim was advised that an internet cheque for $2,100. was deposited onto the victim’s credit card. The victim was instructed to wire back half this amount using Western Union to a man in China who was one of the supposed culprits. The man would be arrested by police when withdrawing the funds.
In an attempt to assist with the sting operation, the victim allowed the fraudsters remote access to the victim’s computer using various websites such as TeamViewer.com, ShowmyPC.com and others. The fraudsters while having access to the victim’s computer, unbeknownst to the victim tracked the victim’s entry of a bank account number and password. Later the victim was informed by the fraudster what the bank account number and password were. This convinced the victim of the fraudster’s legitimacy and five more additional money transfers were made totalling close to $8,000.
The victim was thanked for the assistance and was told that the sting had been a success. A suspect had been apprehended, whoever a second suspect remained at large and further money transfers would be required. The victim who started to feel uneasy about the sequence of events requested to personally meet with someone to verify some of these actions. The fraudsters told the victim that an officer Rodriguez from the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch would meet them at their bank in Listowel at 3 p.m. When the victim called Waterloo Regional Police to verify the identity of Rodriguez it was discovered that officer Rodriguez was fictional.
This is when the victim realized that all these smoke and mirrors had been a complicated scam.
March is Fraud Prevention Month and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre the OPP and its partners — the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Competition Bureau of Canada – will join police services across the country to promote public awareness to help prevent all Canadians from becoming victims of fraud.
Every year, thousands of Canadians fall victim to fraud amassing losses in the millions of dollars. Regardless of age, gender and location, everyone can take basic steps to better protect themselves from becoming victims of fraud. Some basic tips include never giving out personal information at your door, over the phone, through social media, or on dating websites.
If you or someone you know suspect they’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your local police service, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS)
“Recognize, Reject and Report Fraud”!