The West Shore RCMP are warning community members of a recent scam that involved a fraudster pretending to be a local Mountie over the phone.
A West Shore resident contacted police on Tuesday saying they had lost money to a scammer after receiving back-to-back calls.
The first call involved a fraudster saying they were an Amazon worker, and that the victim’s account had been flagged due to fraudulent purchases.
Minutes later, the victim received another call, this time from someone posing as a West Shore RCMP officer.
The second caller told the victim that their bank accounts had been compromised, and that they needed to transfer funds into a specific Bitcoin account.
Mounties did not specify how much money the victim lost, but encouraged residents to never give out personal information – such as banking details – and to be wary of scammers posing as police officers or other legitimate businesses or organizations.
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“We want the public to beware of this type of fraud. Under no circumstances would police ever direct you to transfer or deposit money into Bitcoin or other accounts, etc.,” said West Shore RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Nancy Saggar in a release Wednesday.
RCMP encourages residents to review the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre for tips on how to protect yourself from fraud, or to report any scam attempts.
Adam Chan
