Over the 16th and 17th of October, fraudsters posing as RCMP officers investigating international fraud managed to defraud a 63 year old Owen Sound woman of $33000. The fraudsters contacted the woman by telephone and told her that they needed her help to catch people committing frauds. The woman agreed and allowed them to gain access to her computer. The fraudsters then accessed her banking information. The woman was told that they would deposit money into her chequing account which in turn she was to forward on to specific accounts by way of Western Union money transfers. Unbeknownst to her, the money that was transferred into her chequing account had come from her savings account. The woman only became aware of the fraud when her bank questioned her about it.
Police are advising citizens to question the legitimacy of any requests that involve money transfers and when in doubt, to either research the matter, contact your financial institution or your local police agency.