On May 24, Elk Valley RCMP received a fraud complaint from a citizen in Fernie.

The complainant reported engaging with one of her Facebook friends over Messenger and received a link stating she’d won $70,000 dollars. The victim followed the link, providing her full name, address, date of birth and a photo of herself.

Another stranger reached out almost immediately to her then over Messenger and, over the course of multiple transactions, had her purchase $6,000 dollars worth of gift cards, reportedly in exchange for $120,000 dollars.

Later, after speaking with her friend directly, she realized that her friend’s account had been hacked and she had lost the funds she had sent to the suspect, reported S/Sgt. Svend Nielsen, Elk Valley RCMp Detachment commander.

Police advised her to reach out to Apple to see if the transaction could be disabled or returned to her. Given the release of her personal information and photo, she was advised to consider the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre as well as report the matter to Equifax or TransUnion Services.

Elk Valley RCMP have received several complaints recently along similar lines in recent weeks. The “Grandparent Scam” – where a suspect contacts an elderly person posing as their grandchild, stating they’ve been arrested or kidnapped and need money sent to “free them” is a popular one in the region, S/Sgt. Nielsen said.

“The caller “spoofs” the caller ID, making it appear it is coming from a known or trusted source. Another local citizen was recently defrauded of over $20,000 after making payments for “insurance and two work visas” for promised work with exclusive individuals from Qatar. This suspect used a Facebook profile page with a dramatic number (18,000 plus) followers to demonstrate their prowess and position, making it all the more real to the unfortunate victim.”

RCMP note there are several things the public can do to protect themselves from fraudsters: protect your identity at all times, never send money to anyone you don’t know or trust, be assertive and ask questions, be alert for text scams and emails that ask you for your personal data, do not trust free downloads and requests for passwords and lastly, say no – delete a suspicious email/text and block the account it was sent from on your device.

“You can usually pay a nominal fee to several trusted online companies that will monitor activity based on your online credentials. The basic premises to combat fraud are – if it is too good to be true, it is; and, if you are unsure, stop what you are doing and speak with a person directly whom you trust – a family member or close friend,” Nielsen advised.

Anyone looking for more information can visit the BC RCMP webpage at www.bc-cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca, go to the “A-Z” link and find Fraud under the letter “F,” or go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online.

The investigation is ongoing.

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