A Guelph woman is out thousands of dollars in what police are calling a gift card scam.
The Guelph Police Service says the 65-year-old received a call in December 2022 from someone claiming to be from her bank.
Investigators say the woman was told her bank account had been compromised, and was instructed to log in and allow the caller to have remote access to her accounts.
They say she was then asked to purchase $40,000 in Visa prepaid gift cards over the next two weeks and hand over the serial numbers.
Investigators say the woman noticed something was wrong when the money she received in her account that she initially thought was reimbursements was actually funds that were transferred from another of her own accounts.
The Guelph Police Service is reminding the public that police, bank, and government officials will never call and ask for personal information, nor will they ask for payment to be made in gift cards or cryptocurrency.
They suggest residents be very vigilant and cautious whenever they are speaking with someone they don’t know, especially online or over the phone.