Guelph police credit bank employee with saving woman from fraud

Guelph police say an alert bank employee saved a woman from becoming a victim of fraud on Monday afternoon.

Police were called by an employee of the branch near Woodlawn Road and Woolwich Street at around 1 p.m.

“The caller indicated there was a distraught female in the branch saying she was being threatened and needed to withdraw $5,000 immediately,” police said in a news release.

The woman was still on her cellphone with a man who claimed her bank account had been compromised and she needed to withdraw the money or her accounts would be frozen, police said.

They added that the bank employee tried to convince the woman that it was fraud and called police for assistance.

A police communicator then spoke with the woman and convinced her to hang up and not withdraw any cash.

3:48 Fighting financial fraud

“Officers attempted to call the suspect back but the phone number used was determined to be an untraceable internet-based number,” police said.

The service is also reminding the community to be cautious whenever speaking with someone they don’t know, especially online or over the phone.

Guelph police can be reached at 519-824-1212 for advice when it comes to these situations.