RCMP warn about ongoing scams

Sunshine Coast RCMP want to remind people to be vigilant and suspicious of any telephone calls they receive regarding their online purchases or personal bank accounts.  

This week a Halfmoon Bay resident was scammed out of $18,000 after someone called them purporting to be from the Amazon fraud department.  The scammer made the person believe that there had been a fraudulent transaction made on their account, sent them a link that looked exactly like their personal banking page, and had them enter their account information for a "refund".  Instead the scammers withdrew a large sum of money from the account.

In another report, a Sechelt resident was scammed out of almost $7,000 after a fraudster made them believe that they were speaking with a police officer who wanted them to assist with a fraud investigation.  Ultimately the fake police officer had the resident attend multiple stores to purchase Apple gift cards and provide them with the access codes on the back of the cards.  The fraudster had used phishing techniques to make the call appear to be coming from a local police agency.

If you are suspicious about a person presenting themselves as a police officer call your local police immediately. Police dispatchers will be able to confirm the identity of any police officers working in the area.  A real police officer would never have a civilian act on their behalf in a fraud investigation.

Often the fraudsters will tell their victim to not speak to anyone else about the call. Don't be afraid to say "No", don't feel pressured to act before speaking to a trusted friend. If you feel it is too good to be true or you have doubts, you are probably right.

For more information on how to protect yourself, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has excellent information available.