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Broadcast time: 4:30pm
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Date: October 20, 2021
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Two Sarnia residents were recent victims to another phone scam involving a Bit Coin transaction.
On October 8th, 2021 a 24 year old female was contacted by a criminal posing as a Canada Border Services Officer. The scammer convinced the victim that a package in her name containing $75,000 in cash had been received at the border and that she was suspected of money laundering. She was advised that a local RCMP Officer would be contacting soon regarding this investigation. Shortly after, she received a second phone call from this fake officer and, upon request, the victim provided her Social Insurance Number, passport number and her date of birth in regards to this alleged money laundering investigation.
The victim in this case was then told to pay a fine in order to cover legal fees that would exclude her from any prosecution. She was sent a UPC code to her phone and instructed to attend a convenience store in the 100 block of Ontario Street where she used the code to access a Bit Coin machine and then proceeded to deposit $1420 in cash.
On October 13th, 2021, in a similar case, a 60 year old female was contacted by another fake RCMP Officer advising her that a package in her name was being held at Canada Customs by CBSA and that she would have to pay a fee in order to receive the package. The scammer in this case kept the victim on the line as she withdrew $560 from her bank account and was then instructed to attend the same convenience store with a bar code that was sent to her phone. The victim presented the bar code to the Bit Coin machine and then deposited the cash. The fake officer now tried to scam her for an additional $560 in order to release the package, but when she advised she didn’t have the extra cash, the call was terminated.
In both of these cases, the victims were unable to recover the money they had deposited into the Bit Coin machine which was then transferred to untraceable cryptocurrency accounts.
The Sarnia Police Service would like to remind residents that NO government or financial institution operates business in this manner. No law enforcement agency, including the RCMP or CBSA, will ever call you demanding that you pay a fee or a fine in order to receive a package, cancel an arrest warrant or avoid prosecution. The easiest way to handle these types of calls is to hang up. You will never be in trouble for hanging up the phone. The longer you stay on the line, the more likely it is that you may fall for a similar scam. When in doubt, hang up regardless and call the institution back from a different phone (if possible to avoid “line trapping”) to confirm that everything is ok.
Most frauds go unreported due to the embarrassing nature of the scam itself. Remember, scams are an attack on your emotions and not your intelligence. When someone is overwhelmed with emotion, they’re usually not thinking rationally. If you have been a victim of a scam and suffered financial loss or identity theft, please consider filing a police report by calling 519-344-8861. You can also speak with Victim Services at 519-344-8861 extension 5238. If you have received a similar call, but have not compromised your identity or suffered any financial loss, there is no need to file a police report. These scams can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501.
Also, please consider downloading a copy of “The Little Black Book of Scams” which is updated by the Competition Bureau of Canada by clicking on the link below.
https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/04333.html
Thank you.
Constable Nelson Amaral
Community Services Branch
Tel: 519-344-8861 Ext 6137
Email: namaral@police.sarnia.on.ca
