Online and telephone scams are targeting the Dryden area.
Dryden OPP are reminding residents to never respond to any money or personal information requests from people you don’t know and to know who you’re dealing with first.
Victims have recently reported to police that fraudsters have claimed to offer government financial assistance and insist personal information like personal identification, bank statements and passwords in order to receive the benefit payment.
Victims have also told police, scammers also request money be sent to a Facebook account in the form of pre-paid credit cards, gifts cards or a photograph of your personal credit card.
Some warning signs of a fraudulent request include:
- Urgency– The fraudsters always makes the request sound very urgent, which may cause the victim to not verify the story.
- Request for Money Transfer– Money is usually requested to be sent by a money transfer company such as Money Gram, Western Union or even through your own bank institution.
- The request of payment using gift cards–The caller will tell the victim to purchase various types of gift cards (iTunes, Google Play, Steam, Walmart) and then text them pictures of the card numbers
If you or someone you know suspect that they’ve been a victim of a scam, contact police.
For more information check out https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
