A fraudster scored key information from an Oak Bay residence by pretending to be a potential employer.
The incident was reported to police on May 31. A resident was communicating with a prospective employer and in the final stages of a job interview when they received a follow-up email requesting social insurance and birth date information. Believing that the email came from the potential employer, the individual responded. They later learned otherwise, and contacted police.
A second internet scam was reported June 3 after a resident responded to a Microsoft popup warning of a hack. The fraud victim called the number provided and spoke with someone who claimed to be from their bank. The victim subsequently withdrew $27,000 and deposited it into bitcoin machines, before realizing they were a victim of fraud.
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A Telus scam came calling on Oak Bay May 30. Someone pretending to be a representative for the communications company called, offering the victim an upgrade in service as well as a significant discount. The offer was followed up by an email and a phone call to conduct a ‘credit test’ and requested social insurance, bank and other personal information. The victim later determined that Telus was not running a promotion and cancelled their credit cards before they suffered any financial loss.
Anyone who has been the victim of a scam should contact police. People who haven’t been a victim but want to report a scam can call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre.ca) at 1-888-495-8501.
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