Fraudsters use fake dial tone, phony cops to allegedly defraud Vancouver seniors of $3.1 million

Vancouver police have issued a public warning about a telephone scam after local senior citizens were defrauded out of $3.1 million.

The scam, police said, involves a fraudster calling a senior on a landline and pretending to be a police officer or a jewelry store employee.

The fraudster would convince the victims that their credit card had been used fraudulently to make a large purchase.

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When the victims hung up the phone to call police, the suspects would stay on the line and play a recording of a dial tone. The suspects would then pick up and pretend to be a police officer or bank representative. After a series of calls, the suspects managed to get victims to transfer money to overseas accounts.

In two cases, VPD investigators were able to recover just over $2.5 million of the stolen money.

Police know of five different cases, but say there may be more victims out there. Anyone who thinks they may have been the target of the scam should call Vancouver police investigators at 604-717-0503.