SOUTH CAYUGA—Haldimand OPP is reminding the public to be vigilant and never give out any personal information following a fraud complaint in South Cayuga.
On Friday, June 26, 2020 at 6:44 p.m., OPP received a report of an attempted fraud from a resident.
During the investigation, OPP learned that the complainant was contacted by an unknown suspect claiming to be a police officer conducting an investigation. The complainant also reported the caller ID display on her phone came up as “9-1-1”.
The suspect told the complainant that a vehicle had been rented out in their name and was stopped by police in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The suspect then told the complainant that during the traffic stop, illegal drugs were located in the vehicle and they would need some personal information to continue their investigation. The suspect then went on to ask the complainant for personal information, including their social insurance number, and also asked the complainant to send them payment via Google play cards in order to resolve the matter. Believing this may be a scam, the complainant did not provide any personal information and contacted police.
OPP is reminding the public to never give out any personal information to someone you don’t know.
To learn about ways to protect yourself from scams and frauds, the OPP encourages community members to stay educated on fraud prevention.
If you are the recipient of a fraudulent call, text, or email, or if you’ve been a victim of a fraud, you are encouraged to report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by calling 1-888-495-8501 or visit antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
