Scam/Fraud – Public Advisory

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Released: February 4, 2022 at 8 a.m.

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The Winnipeg Police Service has received a number of reports of a scam targeting local phone numbers.

A scammer will call a victim purporting to be a Winnipeg Police Service officer with a fictitious badge number. They will then be told that their financial card has been compromised and often that someone is in custody concerning the fraud.

If using a landline phone, the victim is asked to call 911 or another number (such as a credit card company) to corroborate the claim. However, the scammer will not hang up – resulting in the victim believing they have made a new call, but the scammer is still connected and acts as if they are a different person or transfers the victim to another fraudster.

During the scam, the victim may be instructed not to contact their financial institutions under the guise that the alleged fraud is an inside job.

The scammer will then ask the victim to withdraw money, send a form of cryptocurrency or forward gift cards.

Below are some tips that can be used to help avoid these scams:

- The Winnipeg Police Service does not call individuals and demand or request money under any circumstances – this includes payment by Interac e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid credit cards, or gift cards from retailers such as Apple, Amazon, or others.

- Never give out personal information such as account numbers, social insurance numbers, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls.

- Most landline phones either have a call clearing delay time or require the person who initiates a call on a landline to end the call for the other person to be able to dial out again. Therefore, if you receive a suspicious call on your landline phone, hang up and wait 30 seconds before using the landline again, or use a mobile phone.

The Winnipeg Police Service encourages family members or friends to have discussions with their older loved ones to ensure they are not being targeted in this or any other scam.

More information, as well as a tool to report these scams, can be found at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/

Constable Jay Murray, Public Information Officer
Constable Dani McKinnon, Public Information Officer
Constable Claude Chancy, Public Information Officer
Kelly Dehn, Manager of Public Affairs

Office: 204-986-3061
E-mail: WPS-PIO@winnipeg.ca

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