Police warn of phone scammers using ‘advanced methods’

Edmonton police are warning the public to be cautious after receiving more than 100 reports of people losing money to an elaborate scheme involving your bank account, Google Play gift cards and a covert RCMP operation.

Police said scammers using “advanced methods” have made off with $683,000 since the beginning of the calendar year.

A Tuesday news release said the EPS has received 136 reports of the gift card-related scam in that time period.

The scam begins with a phone call informing the victim their online banking has been hacked. The caller will provide an employee number to gain trust.

The target will then be asked to log-in to their online banking after downloading a software program that will provide the scammer with remote access to the computer.

“Your bank account will show two fraudulent charges on your credit card. Typically, the first charge is for ebay and the second charge is for Google Play cards,” said EPS spokeswoman Landis Reichle in the release.

After being put on hold, the scammer will say they were arguing on the other line with Google to fully reimburse your account. They will then say the internet giant can only reimburse set dollar values that do not match the charges and the victim of the scam has to buy Google Play gift cards at a certain location to make up the difference.

Once the cards are bought the scammer will tell the victim they need a photo of the scratched cards sent to a designated phone number and that no one can know about the situation because they are doing a “covert operation with the RCMP.”

“The scammer will deposit money into your account so you may continue to make purchases for him to assist in the investigation, as well as a small tip for your assistance,” said Reichle.

“At a later time, you will be asked by the scammer to transfer money from your account to a designated RCMP officer via third-party banking account,” Reichle continued.

The scammer will then transfer funds from your account to someone in India and continue to ask the victim to purchase more scratch cards.

This process will continue until the scammer can no longer convince the victim to send more money.