Phone fraudsters claiming to be bank employees

The Prince George RCMP is warning residents about a recent scandal.

On Friday, May 12th, a local man received a call from a scammer claiming to work for a major bank. This scammer asked the man to help both the bank and the RCMP in a fraud investigation involving transfers through the bank and wire transfer companies. The victim cooperated and transferred money believing he was helping but instead has been robbed of thousands of dollars.

The RCMP is reminding the residents it would never ask for the public’s assistance during an investigation like this. Financial institutions have security personnel that investigates frauds, but banks won’t ask for client assistance either, especially by transferring their own money.

If you receive a call asking for money, RCMP advises you to to take a few steps:

· 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 & security number would be very difficult to trace.

If you’ve been a victim, you’re asked to contact the Prince George RCMP. If you’ve received a similar phone call but are not victimized, please contact the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.