Okanagan resident falls prey to elaborate scam involving fake police phone call

When it comes to scam calls, boundless are the efforts thieves will make to steal your money.

On Friday, Kelowna RCMP said an Okanagan resident fell prey to an elaborate scheme that included fake calls, including one from a fake police officer.

According to police, the scam began on June 26, with the victim receiving an alert text message from a popular online retailer.

The message said the victim had several accounts that were being investigated for fraud and a contact number was included.

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The victim phoned and spoke to an alleged security agent, and was instructed to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Unit to resolve the issue.

The victim “was automatically transferred to another individual over the phone posing as an employee with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Unit.”

Enter the financial hit: The victim was told to immediately withdraw $4,800 and “deposit it into a ‘verification machine,’ which also happened to be a Bitcoin terminal.”

Police say the victim became suspicious and said they were going to phone the cops to verify the allegations when the alleged employee hung up.

Not long after, the victim received from the Kelowna RCMP’s non-emergency number of 250-762-3000, with the caller pretending to be a police officer. A fake name and fake badge number were provided.

The press release didn’t mention spoofing, but it’s a way for scammers to hide their real phone numbers by using legitimate phone numbers.

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“The individual impersonating a police officer convinced the victim to make the deposit, adding there was a warrant for their arrest and this was the only recourse to avoid being arrested,” said the RCMP.

Only after making the deposit did the victim contact police, when they sadly learned it was an elaborate fraud, as there was no such officer by that name, and that the money was long gone.

“Fraud is one of our crime severity index drivers and it’s our responsibility to educate and help our community recognize the signs,” said Cpl. Michael Gauthier.

“Anyone being directed to withdrawal and deposit money into a bitcoin terminal, purchase iTunes gift cards or any other similar type of currency, should immediately assume this is a fraud and contact the RCMP themselves to verify.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has plenty of information on scams and how to avoid falling prey to thieves.