Chatham-Kent police are warning residents of a telephone scam in the area.
On Monday at 5:30 a.m., an elderly Blenheim couple received a telephone call from someone purporting to be a bank employee. The caller advised that someone had fraudulently used their MasterCard for $900. Due to the time of the call, the homeowner hung up the phone, however the caller immediately called back and urged the homeowner to listen as they were working with the RCMP to help them from being defrauded. The caller explained that there was a ‘leak’ at their local Bank and they needed their help by making withdrawals from their account. The caller was able to convince the homeowner that this was a legitimate investigation however, because it was a sensitive situation at the bank not to say anything to anyone. Over the span of two days, the couple withdrew over $17,000 and made 9 different Western Union transactions as per the caller’s directions.
The Chatham-Kent Police Service would like to remind everyone that personal or financial information should never be provided to a stranger over the phone, especially if you didn’t initiate the call. For more information about fraud types and prevention, please see http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
