NEWS RELEASE
GUELPH POLICE
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The community is being warned of a new type of scam after several recent reports of e-transfers being intercepted.
In each case, the complainant reported being contacted by someone claiming to be from their bank and reporting fraudulent e-transfers from the complainant’s bank account. The victims were asked to send themselves an e-transfer and then provide the caller with the confirmation code for tracking purposes.
The fraudsters were then able to recreate the e-transfer and deposit the funds into another account. Six victims reported losses of between $616 and $10,000.
Tips:
Do not trust that a phone call is from your bank even if your call display says so as phone numbers can be spoofed.
- These fraudsters seem to have a significant amount of information about the account holder and will address them by name and provide information on the accounts they hold.
- If you get a call about fraudulent activity on your accounts, tell the caller to freeze the account, hang up and then directly call the fraud number found on the back of your debit or credit card or attend the bank in person.
- You can’t send an e-transfer to yourself and deposit it into the same bank!
- A bank will never ask you to e-transfer yourself in order to secure your account, they will just freeze it!
- Banks cannot stop an e-transfer once it has been deposited and have no way to get the funds back from the recipient.
Residents are encouraged to be wary of any telephone call, email or text which requires you to take immediate action. It is always best to independently contact the supposed sender and confirm the legitimacy of the correspondence before taking action.
Anyone who suspects they have been the victim of cybercrime or fraud should report it to their local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s online reporting system or by phone at 1-888-495-8501. Even if no financial loss has been sustained, interactions can still be reported to the CAFC.
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