Cobourg police are reminding the public to be vigilant after an elderly man was almost defrauded of his savings in a bank investigator scam.
Police were advised early this week that the 82-year-old man received an unsolicited phone call from a person claiming to be from his bank who told the victim that a large payment had been made from his account and asked him to confirm the transaction.
When the victim said he had not authorized a payment, the call was transferred to a second person who claimed to be the Crown Attorney. This person provided a fake identification number and used other tactics to appear legitimate.
The scammer then instructed the victim to attend his bank, while staying on the phone with him, and directed him to withdraw all funds from his account to turn over as part of an alleged fraud investigation. A bank teller intervened, preventing the victim from being defrauded.
The scammers subsequently made two additional calls to the victim, this time pretending to be from the Attorney General’s office and insisting the victim turn over his money.
Police are reminding the public that members of law enforcement or the justice system or any other government officials will never request moving or withdrawing funds as part of an investigation.
In an attempt to appear legitimate, fraudsters will often provide the first four to six numbers of a debit or credit card. Known as the bank identifier number (BIN), these numbers are used to identify the card issuer and most debit and credit card numbers issued by specific financial institutions begin with the same numbers.
Never provide any personal information, including banking details, to anyone over the phone. If you receive a suspicious call, hang up immediately.
If you receive a suspicious call or believe you have been the target of a scam, contact local police and report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
