On Tuesday, the Saskatoon Police Service received over a hundred calls regarding a specific scam.

Victims are reporting that the fraudsters are calling them claiming to be from varying levels of government (i.e. municipal Police or RCMP). The fraudster informs the victim that they have warrants out for their arrest for money laundering, involvement in child exploitation, or theft. The fraudster then requests personal information and asks for only a few numbers of the victim’s social insurance number. Then they state that the charges can be cleared up by payment through Bitcoin machines. The fraudsters then call back to the same victim at a later time attempting to gather additional numbers of their SIN.

Government employees don’t often contact members of the public via telephone and will never ask for payment through crypto-currency. Citizens of Saskatoon need to be aware of different types of online and telephone scams that are currently occurring.

As more businesses close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many are offering services online only. There is already a heightened sense of fear/anxiety around the virus and investigators are urging people to exercise extreme caution, especially when dealing with money online. Fraudsters are taking advantage of people’s current emotions, adding stress and urgency to receive money and information fast.

The Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC) has up to date information about these and other types of frauds that are out there: www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm. You can also report attempted-frauds to the CAFC.

If you have been the victim of a fraud, please file a report online: www.saskatoonpolice.ca/onlinereporting