Fraud/Scam – Public Advisory
The Winnipeg Police Service has recently received a few reports of phone scammers using called ID spoofing to call from what appears to be a Winnipeg Police Service number – often the general enquiry line at 204-986-6313.
The fraudster claims to be a police officer, and attempts to use components of an existing scam, such as the Grandparent or Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam, to obtain personal information, credit card details, gift cards or money.
Tips – How to protect yourself:
- Do not always assume phone numbers appearing on call display screens are accurate and be cautious of unexpected callers. Take reasonable steps to confirm the identities of people who call.
- The police and courts (including lawyers) will never send someone to your house to collect money or gift cards. They will also never tell you to lie to the bank about the purpose of obtaining money.
- These scammers often pressure people to act quickly before they have time to consider what they are doing or agreeing to. Always talk to a trusted person before providing personal information or funds, especially if it is an unsolicited call.
- If someone is purporting to be a family member, ask the caller a few personal questions that the family member could answer but an imposter could not.
- The police or Canada Revenue Agency will never demand immediate payment by Interac e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid credit cards, or gift cards from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, or others.
If you have been victimized:
- Document all the information you can recall, e.g. receipts, copies of emails, text messages and courier companies.
- Report it. Doing so can help you possibly recover any loss, and it helps protect the community from future frauds and scams.
Information on how to report a fraud or scam can be found here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/police/TakeAction/frauds_scams.stm#report