The Ontario Provincial Police detachment of Peterborough County is investigating two incidents of fraud adding up to $78,000 in total.
Police say the first incident happened on July 31 at approximately 10:45 a.m.
According to police, officers arrived at a Asphodel-Norwood Township residence to investigate a fraud totalling $28,000. Police say the victim reported that they were contacted by someone posing as a Service Canada employee saying a warrant has been issued for their arrest due to fraud and money laundering complaints.
Police say the suspect informed the victim that a local law enforcement officer would be contacting them over the phone shortly after. According to police, the victim was later contacted by someone posing as a police officer with the Campbellford OPP, who told the victim that if they didn’t send $28,000 immediately, they would be arrested.
The victim proceeded to deposit the money into a bitcoin account requested by the suspect, according to police.
Police say the second incident happened on the same day at around noon, with the fraud totalling $50,000. Officers attended a residence in the Havelock-Belmont-Methuen Township to investigate.
According to police, the victim reported that a suspect told them their credit card information had been stolen, and numerous transactions had been made on the card. Police say the suspect told the victim that they wouldn’t be able to access their remaining assets until they paid for the fraudulent transactions. Police say the victim made multiple payments using Google Play cards, as requested by the suspect.
OPP are reminding residents to take basic steps in recognizing and avoiding frauds, which include:
- Never providing personal information or banking details over the telephone unless you initiated the call.
- Hanging up immediately if there’s anything suspicious or unprofessional about the call. Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will never threaten you with immediate arrest, use abusive language or send police.
- Service Canada and the CRA will never request payment by Interac e-transfer, online currency such as bitcoin, pre-paid credit cards or pre-paid gift cards such as Google Play, iTunes, Home Depot, etc.
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