Salmon Arm woman defrauded out of $11K in suspicious purchase scam, says RCMP

Photo: Glacier Media

A Salmon Arm woman lost $11,000 after a scammer lied to her about a suspicious purchase on her bank account.

On Oct. 7, a 20-year-old woman told police she had been defrauded out of $11,000.

“The woman explained she had received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of RBC, who indicated they had noted a suspicious purchase on her account that occurred in Victoria, BC,” said Const. Andrew Hodges of the Salmon Arm RCMP.

The woman eventually agreed to e-transfer the funds over four transactions from her savings account to an email address provided by the caller.

The next day, when the woman went to her bank to talk about the matter, she learned the transactions were fraudulent.

“It was unclear if the bank would be able to recover the funds for the woman,” Hodges said.

Police advise the public to use extreme caution before sending e-transfers to anyone, and to treat any unsolicited e-mails, text messages or phone calls from someone requesting money as highly suspicious.

To learn more about common fraud schemes, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.