Beware the ‘bank investigator scam’
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This article was published 02/03/2020 (2137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A fraud trend that continues to become more popular year by year is the ‘bank investigator scam’.
In this scam, the fraudster will contact victims through a landline telephone and tell them that there has been a supposed suspicious transaction that has occurred on their bank or credit card accounts — the fraudsters will then say that they have stopped the transaction. The fraudster then instructs the victims to hang up and immediately call the toll-free phone number on the back of their payment card for further details on this supposed suspicious transaction.
When the victim hangs up and begins dialing, the fraudster, not having hung up, will then begin posing as a ‘bank investigator’.
The bank investigator will then tell the victims that their supposed suspicious transactions are linked to an ongoing internal investigation and that they require the victims’ help. The bank investigator convinces the victims to remove money from their accounts and send it to the investigator, using a variety of methods, which can include crypto-currency (Bitcoin) deposits, wire transfers or even through the mail.
The bank investigator then goes on to reassure the victims that all of the money removed from their accounts will be returned.
Between 2017 and 2019, the amount of complaints made to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre for the bank investigator scam has more than doubled, making it very popular.
In 2019 alone, Canadians lost over $3.2 million to this scam and Manitoban victims accounted for over $1 million of that total. The bank investigator scam is currently the most successful and most profitable scam fraudsters have used against Manitobans.
Tips and safeguards to protect yourself from the bank investigator scam include:
• Banks and other financial institutions will never ask you to assist in an internal investigation. They all have corporate security departments which handle these types of incidents;
• Be wary of early-morning phone calls from individuals purporting to be from a bank or another financial institution. The fraudsters behind these scams usually call at that time to catch a victim who has just woken up and is not yet fully alert;
• Do not assume phone numbers appearing on your call display are accurate. Fraudsters use call-spoofing technology to disguise themselves and make it appear they are actually calling from a bank;
• If you get a phone call regarding suspicious activity with your bank account, speak in-person to a representative at your local branch.
For more information on the bank investigator scam and how to protect yourself, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre.ca
March is Fraud Prevention Month and the Winnipeg Police Service is holding its seventh annual Shred It event at St. Vital Centre on March 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring up to two bags of shredding to the parking lot outside Silver City, past the transit loop.
— Courtesy of Winnipeg Police Service