Fraud alert in Shelburne

August 13, 2014 · 0 Comments

Shelburne Police has received several reports of similar fraud schemes from local residents.
In all of these incidents a male calls the victim over the phone and claims to be an employee, security investigator or manager of a local credit union.
The male makes inquiries over the phone about the victims banking practices while explaining he is investigating suspicious activity by a bank employee.
The male then requests that the victim makes a withdrawal from their bank account and meet him with the cash somewhere in town away from the bank. The male promises that all the money withdrawn will be deposited back into the account. The male tries to convince the victim that this strange practice is necessary due to the sensitive internal investigation.
Victims have lost up to $4200 through this scam.
Shelburne Police are reminding everyone to be extremely cautious when dealing with any financial transactions over the phone, the Internet or with door to door sales people; unless the contact was initiated by the customer through a known and trusted business.
If anyone phones you from a financial institution do not provide any information unless you know the person well or have verified the call. If you have any suspicions hang up and call the financial institution back on their regular phone number (can be found on their website, back of credit or bank cards, yellow pages), or attend the branch in person to verify the legitimacy of the inquiry. A financial institution will never request anyone to withdraw money and meet outside of the financial building.
Always verify with your branch any requests or offers you obtain over the phone, in person outside the branch, or over the Internet. If you can’t verify the information be sure to contact police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
For more information on how to protect yourself or business from fraud go the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
If anyone has any information in relation to this case or any other criminal activity, they are encouraged to contact the Shelburne Police Service at 519-925-3312 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.crimestopperssdm.com.