A 71-year-old new Canadian from Coquitlam has been stripped of tens of thousands of dollars by bank security scammers.

According to a Coquitlam RCMP release, the victim got a call on March 1 from scammers posing as 鈥渃orporate security鈥� workers at a Canadian bank. The scammers told her that her credit card had been 鈥渃ompromised鈥� and in order to 鈥渞ecover the money,鈥� pressured her into purchasing over $16,000 in gift cards at three different stores.

鈥淥nce the numbers for those cards were shared over the phone, the money was essentially gone,鈥� Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said in the release.

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McLaughlin said Coquitlam RCMP are aware that fraudsters are targeting a small, vulnerable percentage of the population with high-pressure scare tactics, and the bank security shakedown is currently 鈥渘umber one鈥� on their list of concerning scams.

The best defence? Hang up and verify.

鈥淔or many scams, the best defence is to verify,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a legitimate call from the bank or the government, you鈥檒l be able to hang up, talk to a trusted friend, then look up the bank鈥檚 number yourself and call them back.鈥�

Banks and government agencies will never request payment in gift cards, Bitcoin, or any form of online or virtual credit, he added.

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For more information on evolving scams, or to report a scam where you haven鈥檛 lost money, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at .

If you think you鈥檝e lost money to a scam, call the local police.

karissa.gall@blackpress.ca
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