An Oak Bay resident is out $13,500 after being scammed by someone claiming to be a “bank inspector.”
The victim told Oak Bay police that the scammer said there were two fraudulent charges on his bank account.
Police said the scammer is believed to be part of a “very sophisticated” scheme. They told the victim they needed to access his computer via AnyDesk to try to identify the source of the alleged fraudulent transactions. AnyDesk allows remote access to electronic devices.
The scammer made it appear as though $7,000 had been deposited into the man’s account, before telling him to withdraw cash from his local bank branch to purchase $13,500 worth of gift cards.
The victim was even provided with a script to follow when dealing with the teller who served him.
After giving the gift-card numbers and validation codes to the suspect, the victim became suspicious that he was being defrauded and called police.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre provides information on different types of scams and how to avoid scams.
For more information or to report a scam, go to antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
