On Friday morning, February 26, 2021, two Winnipeg Police Service officers on foot patrol in the downtown area were approached by an employee of an area retail business. The employee had followed a senior female out of the store in an attempt to stop her from providing codes from gift cards to a phone scammer. The employee told police the woman had just purchase $1,000 in Google Play cards from the store.
One of the officers asked the victim for her phone and identified himself as a police officer to the scammer. He told the scammer that the fraud had been stopped. The scammer replied “I don’t care who you are; this transaction is between her and me. Put her back on the phone.” The scammer hung up.
The victim told officers that she had been told she would be arrested due to a tax matter and was directed by the scammer to turn over her banking information and PINs. She was then directed to purchase $1,000 in Google Play cards in order to avoid arrest. She was told not to tell anyone about the call.
The officers and victim went to the victim’s bank nearby and spoke to an assistant manager who was able to freeze her accounts and change passwords. The banker told police she was very familiar with the scam and deals with victims daily. A check of the victim’s banking transactions showed her accounts had not been accessed by the scammers.
The store where the woman had purchased the Google Play cards contacted Google Play and the company refunded the purchase.
March is Fraud Prevention Month. In 2020, Manitobans lost more than $4.4 million through mass market scams of which $1.9 million were through extortion scams.
If you or someone you know fall victim to an extortion scam contact your local police agency and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to file a report.
LINK | Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
© News4.ca 2021
