THE Vancouver Police Department is warning the public about a sophisticated fraud scheme in which scammers are impersonating both financial institution investigators and senior police officers to convince victims to transfer large sums of money. 

In a recent incident, a victim was contacted by a fraudster posing as an investigator from one of the major banks. The call appeared legitimate because it originated from a “spoofed” phone number displaying that bank’s contact information. 

The fraudster informed the victim that their bank accounts had been compromised and instructed them to sign in to their online banking account. At the same time, a second fraudster posing as Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Constable Alison Laurin contacted the victim from a spoofed Vancouver Police non-emergency phone number. 

The fake Laurin managed to convince the victim to hand over access to their bank account where the fraudsters transferred $10,000 from a line of credit to a chequing account. The victim was then instructed to withdraw the money and deposit into a Bitcoin ATM. It was only after the deposit happened that the victim realized it was all a scam.

How to Protect Yourself: 

• Police officers, especially a Deputy Chief, will never ask members of the public to assist in criminal investigations by transferring money or depositing funds into cryptocurrency accounts.
• Banks will never ask customers to provide one-time passwords, two-factor authentication codes, or online banking credentials over the phone.
• Caller ID can be manipulated, making it appear that calls are coming from legitimate organizations.
• If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and contact your bank or police using a publicly listed phone number.
• Never send money, purchase cryptocurrency, or provide account access based on instructions received during an unsolicited phone call.

Anyone who believes they have been targeted by a similar scam is encouraged to contact their financial institution immediately and call police.