South Bruce OPP are warning residents to be careful around more scams hitting locals by phone and online.
This year to date there have been 26 reported cases of fraud in South Bruce with some including;
- Two incidents of identity theft, credit cards opened and charged under victims names; losses of $12,000 and $5,000.
- Online pop-up claiming to be computer repair, led to the victim sending funds; loss of $1,00 0.
- Two incidents of calls from scammers posing as employees of a financial institution, scammers tricked the victims into surrendering banking log-in details; loss of $15,500 and $2,000.
- Two incidents of catfishing, one scammer promoting a celebrity meet & greet, the other claiming to be the heiress of a large inheritance; near loss of $7,000 and loss of $100,000.
- Online marketplace advertisement requesting to be paid up front for an item, user was a fraudulent account and sent a false address for pickup; loss of $140.
- Scammer posing as a government agency requesting banking information; luckily the resident was suspicious of the activity and contacted police first.