Kelowna News

Kelowna RCMP have arrested one of three individuals they believe has been pulling the "money for tow truck" scam on residents and passersby.

Police arrested a 46-year-old man at Highway 97 and Leathead Road early Monday morning in the act of pulling the scam on a person he had hit up on two other occasions over the previous week.

Two other individuals, including one who they believe may be working as a partner with the man arrested Monday, remain at large, and police warn the public to be wary of someone asking them for money for any reason.

"Don't give it to them," Constable Steve Holmes, the Kelowna detachment's media relations officer advises.

"If people are genuinely hungry or in need, there are resources to deal with that. If they're asking for money for a tow, it's likely a charade."

Holmes says the detachment has received more than a dozen reports of the scam being tried, but he's convinced there's been more.

And some of yielded money from the public, he says. In one, a lady gave the scammer money, and the perpetrator came back a bit later asking for more money for "the taxes."

Police have evidence that the monies collected through the scam are being used to buy illegal drugs.