The Powell River RCMP is warning you once again about fraud.
This springs from an incident on January 2nd. Around noon that day police got a call from a victim who had gotten a text message they believed was from a co-worker.
The text asked them to buy a Google Play card worth $100.
The card was purchased and the victim texted the access code back to the supposed co-worker. That led to another text message asking the victim to buy another card.
At that point they got in touch with their actual co-worker, only to learn that the co-worker’s personal information had been compromised. Other co-workers had received the same requests to buy Google Play cards.
The RCMP says this is a very good example of how sophisticated these fraudsters can be, “so be wary on any request for gift cards. If you receive any request from anyone asking for the purchase of a gift card, it should set off red flags.”
The Powell River RCMP is also investigating a theft that happened that same morning. Sometime around 3:00am a number of tents and camping kitchens were taken from on top of a Sea Can at Canadian Tire.
Those were among the 129 total calls for service the Powell River RCMP received in the last week. The biggest one was theft, as police responded to 18 calls for that. If you know anything about these crimes you’re asked to call the RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222- TIPS (8477).
