NEWS RELEASE
THUNDER BAY POLICE SERVICE
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The Thunder Bay Police Service is receiving numerous complaints about law enforcement officers contacting them about supposed owed money.
THIS IS A SCAM!
The complaints being received indicate this scam is targeting a significant number of local phone numbers.
The scammers contact their targets impersonating an officer. They provide a name and a badge number before letting them know they owe a significant sum of money.
The would-be victim is told about a warrant out for their arrest. In an effort to make themselves appear authentic the person impersonating a police officer will recite the last three digits of the target’s social insurance number.
The amounts of money the fraudsters are telling victims they owe sometimes exceed $5,000.
THIS IS A SCAM!
The fraudster may even appear on your phone as the Thunder Bay Police Service’s non-emergency number (684-1200). Don’t be fooled, this is still a scam.
If you are contacted by the Thunder Bay Police Service’s non-emergency number, the agency name and number will NOT appear on your caller ID. Instead you will see “unknown number” “Private number” or any other similar message in lieu of 684-1200.
Think you can’t be fooled? These would be fraudsters are experts at creating a sense of urgency and panic. This panic leads to quick decisions, which oftentimes leads to success for the scammer.
The Thunder Bay Police Service would like to urge the public to have a conversation with friends and family who are more vulnerable and possibly most at risk to these attacks. The elderly and foreign students, who may have limited understanding about Canadian laws, are sometimes more aggressively targeted.
