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FRAUD ALERT | Public Warned After Fraudsters Impersonate Financial Services Employees

Traffic Advisory
Date Published: 26 Nov 2020, Last Updated: 15 May 2025

Date:  Thursday, November 26th, 2020Files: 20-45704, 20-45839 Victoria, BC – VicPD  Investigation and Support Unit (ISU) investigators are warning the public to after two people fell victim to fraudsters claiming to be financial services employees.20-45704Investigators learned that the victim received a call on November 18th, 2020 from someone claiming to work for the victim’s bank. The man on the phone had knowledge of much of the victim’s financial transactions and bank information. The caller reported that the victim’s accounts had been compromised. Convinced the caller was genuine, the victim followed his directions to purchase Google Play store cards and hand over the serial numbers.A short time later the victim realized they had fallen victim to the scam, contacted their bank and reported the fraud to officers. The loss was $2,500.20-45839Investigators learned that the victim received a call on November 19th, 2020 from someone claiming to work for the victim’s financial services organization. The man on the phone also had knowledge of this victim’s financial transactions and information. The caller claimed that the victim’s credit card had been compromised. Convinced the caller was genuine, the victim followed his directions to purchase Google Play store cards and hand over the card serial numbers. The victim was then directed to purchase additional Google Play store cards. After purchasing this second group of cards the victim became suspicious, contacted her financial institution and discovered the fraud. The loss was $1,000.In both of these unfortunate incidents, victims were tricked by sophisticated, knowledgeable and professional fraudsters. Officers are reminding the public that while a person on the phone may sound genuine, your bank will never ask you to purchase gift cards in order to combat a fraud.For more information on spotting frauds and how to protect yourself and your loved ones from fraud visit vicpd.ca/fraud.

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phone fraud
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