The RCMP are warning Nova Scotians of the latest scam to watch for, one that involves purchasing gold and giving it to scammers pretending to be police officers.
Cpl. Mitch Thompson with the RCMP commercial crime section told CBC’s Information Morning that victims are being called by scammers telling them they are with the fraud department of a bank and telling them their money is at risk from foreign hackers.
The victims are then told to purchase gold from a legitimate dealer online in Canada using their savings and investments.
Then they’re instructed by the scammers to hand the gold over to someone posing as a police officer.
“They often will use intermediaries. So somebody that’s working for the scammer or somebody that they’ve hired online as a kind of buffer. But there is definitely an element of risk to meeting in person for sure,” said Thompson.
Thompson said they only know of one instance of this kind of scam happening in Nova Scotia but there are similar scams happening in Ontario.
Thompson says this type of fraud is called a bank investigator scam or financial grooming scam.
“The scammers will build a relationship over time and that’s to help reduce the likelihood that the scam is going to be reported or the scam is going to be found out or or investigated before they have an opportunity to benefit,” said Thompson.
Thompson says the scammers use an element of urgency and secrecy to override logical thinking and miss the red flags. But Thompson there are a couple of clues to watch out for.
“I don’t know any bank in the world that’s gonna tell you that your money is safer without them than with them. Right? And then the second part of that is for, for the police standpoint. We don’t take people’s financial instruments for safekeeping,” said
As for scammers posing as police officers, Thompson says real officers always carry ID cards and a badge with matching numbers and photo, which someone can ask to see if they think they are being scammed.
“In this case or in what we’re seeing in this scam is the fake badges, but not fake police cars or fake uniforms or anything like that. And really, this is just a mode for the scammer to get possession of the gold that has been purchased,” said Thompson.
While Thompson says resolution in these cases ultimately vary, there is always a financial toll for the victims and a lot of shame, contributing to low fraud reports.
“It’s important to understand that fraud is probably the most likely crime that you are to be a victim of in Canada. And it doesn’t know socioeconomic, it doesn’t know gender, it doesn’t know racial background. Everybody is susceptible,” said Thompson.
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