Delta police are warning the public after a Delta woman was scammed out of $3,000 when a man called her pretending to be a police officer.
According to police, the call was made to look like it came from the Delta police headquarters phone number of 604-946-4411.
The unknown man advised the woman that her father was in custody and that she should purchase $3,000 in Google Play gift cards to be used as “bail money.”
The woman purchased the gift cards and sent the activation codes to the male through WhatsApp.
“Unfortunately scammers will spoof well known phone numbers, like that of local police, in order to try and convince their potential victims to take them seriously,” said DPD public affairs coordinator Cris Leykauf. “We want to advise the public that Canadian police officers will not call you directly asking for money for bail or any other purposes.”
Leykauf said there are many variations on these scams, with fraudsters regularly changing their tactics.
“Our best advice is that if someone is calling you, asking you to pay a fine, taxes, bail, or anything through gift cards or bitcoin, it is a scam. Hang up,” said Leykauf.
