WELLINGTON NORTH – Police are warning county residents about a scam involving fraudsters posing as police officers.
A local resident was recently bilked of $2,000 in the scam, which police say is conducted by telephone using the former Mount Forest OPP Detachment telephone number.
On May 27 at about 3:45pm, Wellington County OPP received a fraud report from a Wellington North resident.
“It was reported that the victim was contacted by a person using the former Mount Forest OPP Detachment telephone number and alleging to be a police officer,” police stated in a May 28 press release.
“The fraudster advised that victim that she was being investigated for having multiple bank accounts and hacking into others.
“The victim was told that the only way to protect her money was to drain her account and purchase prepaid VISA cards and provide [the fraudster] with the numbers.”
The victim lost $2,000, police stated, noting the suspect used the name David Campbell and spoke with an East Indian accent.
“The Wellington County OPP has received two similar type incidents in the last few hours and want the public to be aware – this is a fraud,” stated the May 28 press release sent out at 4:30pm.
The OPP is reminding residents that police never “conduct investigations then solicit money” or gift cards and prepaid VISA/Mastercard cards.
Police warn that fraudsters “will be extremely demanding and persuasive on the phone and will use computer generated apps to make it look like they are calling from legitimate businesses – such as the OPP.”
Residents should also never provide personal information – including a Social Insurance Number, date of birth or banking information – over the phone to anyone they don’t know.
For more information on fraud, call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or visit http://antifraudcentre.ca.
“Fraud is a multi-million dollar enterprise that will only end when they stop making money,” police state.
Anyone unsure if they’re speaking to an actual police officer can hang up and call the non-emergency OPP number at 1-888-310-1122.
