Phone scam suspect poses as Mountie to gain access to computer

RCMP are warning of a new phone scam where the scammer poses as an RCMP officer and gains remote access to victims’ computers.

In a news release Wednesday, RCMP said three investigations have been launched in the Edson and Mclennan detachment areas.

Police said the scammer contacts potential victims by phone, claiming to be an RCMP officer with the “Cyber Crimes Unit” conducting an investigation. The scammer asks the victim to download software allowing remote access to their computer.

Once the download is completed, police said the suspect will then commit fraud through money transfers or Google Play cards. In one investigation, police said the suspect told the victim he would put $40,000 in their account to “trap the bad guys.”

RCMP are reminding the public they will never contact you by phone and ask you to act as an agent on their behalf. They also will never contact you and request remote access to your computer. If in doubt, police say to get all the caller’s information, hang up and go to the nearest RCMP detachment.

Additional safety tips from RCMP include:

No legitimate government agency or business will demand payment in gift cards or prepaid credit cards. These methods are used by criminals to hide their activities from police.

If you receive a call from someone claiming you owe money, get as much information from them as possible and tell them you will call them back. Find the government agency’s phone number through a trusted source such as a phone book or official website and call the department back. Don’t trust the phone number or email from the caller until you have verified they are who they say they are.

Don’t share personal info with the caller such as name, social insurance number, address, etc.