WELLINGTON COUNTY – Local police are again issuing a warning about scams after a local senior was victimized by a lottery scam.
Wellington County OPP officials say scammers are targeting older residents on the phone by posing as lottery officials.
On Sept. 8, an elderly victim “was contacted via an unsolicited unknown phone number to their landline phone,” police stated in a Sept. 10 press release.
“The scammers told the victim they were able to purchase tickets for the lottery via gift cards and promised prizes from the lottery in return.”
Police say the victim was “instructed to attend a local business, while staying on the phone, purchase $500 worth of gift cards and read out the numbers on the cards to the scammers.
“The victim was then contacted the next day, with the scammers continuing the same narrative, but were now asking for $2,000 worth of gift cards this time.”
Police say the victim then became suspicious, hung up the phone and reported the incident to police.
The OPP suggests that anyone who receives an unsolicited phone call/message asking for personal information (name, birthday, address, phone number, bank information, SIN number) or payment via gift cards for a product, should not provide the information but instead hang up and block the phone number.
Police say warning signs to look out for 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; and
– generic business or company names.
For more information on scams and frauds, police suggest reading The Little Black Book of Scams, which can be found at competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03074.html.
Anyone who receives a fraudulent call, text or email can report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by calling 1-888-495-8501 or visiting antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
