Police are warning the public about a scam targeting area residents.
On Friday May 12, the Prince George RCMP received a report of a fraud from a Prince George resident.
The victim received a phone call from a scammer claiming to work for a major Canadian bank. The man requested the victim assist the bank and the RCMP with a fraud investigation involving transfers through the bank and wire transfer companies. The victim was asked to make money transfers to help catch the fraudsters. The victim has been defrauded of thousands of dollars.
Investigators would like to remind the public that the RCMP would never use the public to assist with an investigation of this nature. Although financial institutions do have security personnel that investigate frauds, they would never request a client to assist, especially by transferring their own money.
If you receive a call asking for money, please:
- Do not take immediate action. Hang-up and contact the financial institution or government agency the person claimed to be working for.Numbers can be found on the back of your debit or credit card, or through their official website;
- Know who you are dealing with. Obtain their contact information and search it on the internet.Often the contact info will be associated to frauds. This is a clear warning that this is not legitimate;
- Never give your personal information to anyone that calls you over the phone.This is especially the case when an organization such as the financial institution you deal with calls and should have all your necessary information already;
- Never agree to wire funds or purchase cash cards;
- Wiring money is untraceable & irreversible.Similarly, purchasing cash cards and providing the scammers with the card number and security number would be very difficult to trace.
If you are a victim, please immediately report the fraud to your local RCMP or police department of jurisdiction. If you are not victimized, please contact the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
For more information on common frauds in Canada, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website or click http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/fraud-escroquerie/index-eng.htm.
If you have any information about fraud offences in Prince George, please contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300.