NEWS RELEASE
WELLINGTON COUNTY OPP
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ERIN – Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is warning residents of a recent scam that involved an Erin resident to lose $50,000 to a phone phishing scam, where the scammer was posing as a 'Fraud Investigator' from a bank.
On Jan. 17 the victim received a phone call from an unknown number, with the scammer posing as a fraud Investigator from a local bank. The victim said the scammer had a lot of detail about them, alongside their banking information. The scammer was asking a lot of questions about them, getting the victim to reveal additional personal information and asking for them to stay on the phone as it was for the best interest of the "fraud investigation'. This conversation lasted over five hours.
The victim was told that their banking cards were no longer valid and that a courier would attend their address to come pick them up and say a pre-arranged 'password' at the time of retrieval. The scammers then took $50,000 from the victim's bank account. The victim then suspected they were being subject to fraudulent activity and reported the incident to police.
The Wellington County OPP encourages the public to stay alert and educated to reduce the risk of being a victim of fraud. If you receive an unsolicited phone call or message, asking for personal information (name, birthday, address, phone number, bank information, SIN number) or payment via gift cards for a product, do not provide the information and hang-up the phone and block the phone number.
Warning signs to look out for when receiving unsolicited messages include:
- Emails, text-messages or phone calls sent at odd times of the night
- Creating a false sense of urgency
- Spelling errors
- Lack of punctuation or capitals in sentences
- Automated messages
- Random links or attachments
- Generic business or company name
For more information on scams and frauds, the public is encouraged to read The Little Black Book of Scams, which can be found online: https://www.competitionbureau.
If you are the recipient of a fraudulent call, text, or email, or if you have been a victim of a fraud, you are encouraged to report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by calling 1-888-495-8501 or visit http://www.antifraudcentre-
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