KITCHENER -- The Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police are warning the public of a sophisticated telephone scam that involves an OPP phone number.
On Wednesday, OPP received a call from a North Wellington Township resident saying she was scammed out of $2,000.
The victim told police he was contacted by a person using the former Mount Forest OPP Detachment telephone number and alleging to be a police officer.
The fraudster reportedly advised the victim that she was being investigated for having multiple bank accounts and hacking into several others.
Police say the victim was told that the only way to protect her money was to drain her account, purchase prepaid VISA cards, and provide him with the numbers.
The victim did as the caller told herand handed over numbers, according to officials.
Police are warning the public that this scam involved a suspect using the name of David Campbell, who speaks with an Indian accent.
Wellington County OPP issued the warning after receiving two similar incidents like this one within hours of each other on Thursday.
A Guelph woman was victim to a similar phone scam back in March. The woman was contacted by someone identifying themselves as “Kitchener RCMP.”
The caller was told she was the victim of identity fraud, and was instructed to empty her bank account into a Bitcoin machine inside a store near Gordon and Wellington Street. She lost $9, 500.
There have been a string of fake police officer complaints across southwestern Ontario during a three-week stretch from mid-April to early May. This includes reports of a man impersonating a Wellington County OPP officer and asking drivers for their “essential worker status”.
OPP are reminding residents that they do not conduct investigations then solicit money, saying suspects will be extremely demanding and persuasive on the phone and will use computer generated apps to make it appear like they are calling from legitimate businesses.
Residents are reminded to never provide any personal information including social insurance number, date of birth or any banking information over the phone to anyone that they don't know.