Fraud
On January 24, 2020 a citizen reported another attempted online scam.
A bad link on a website led the citizen right to the scammers who were able to lock up the citizen’s computer. A substantial amount of personal information was disclosed to the scammers in return for unlocking the computer and a credit card was compromised by a payment made over the phone to the scammers. The citizen did report the compromise to their credit card provider and were able to have the fraudulent transaction reversed. The citizen was advised to contact their financial institution and credit monitoring bureaus to prevent further compromises to their accounts.
Fraud
On January 22, 2020 a citizen reported a scam to the West Grey Police Service. The scammer led the victim to believe he represented TD Visa and advised the citizen to purchase STEAM gift cards from a retail location in Mount Forest and to provide him or her with the card number and PINs in order to verify if the citizen’s card was compromised. The victim did as directed and as a result is out about $800.00. Because there is no way recall the gift cards once the numbers and PINS have been provided, the caller was referred to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center.
Fraud
On January 21st, a scam was prevented when a vigilant customer service representative at a local financial institution recognized a CRA scam in progress and referred their client to West Grey Police Service before processing the client’s request. Please note that your financial institution and credit card provider will never ask you to make a purchase to verify a fraudulent transaction. The CRA will never request that you transfer money from one account to another to pay outstanding taxes. Scammers follow well-rehearsed scripts and can be very persuasive. Education and vigilance on the part of our citizens, financial services providers and the retail providers of gift cards is needed to stop scammers in their tracks.
Theft
On Monday the 27th day of January, police received reports of the theft of a black Polaris Transport Snowmobile from a John Street address in Neustadt address in Ayton. The snowmobile is said to possible have damage to the right ski as evidence shows that the culprits struck a cement well casing on the way off of the property. The snowmobile is said to be valued at approximately $1,700 and anyone with information is asked to call the West Grey Police Service at 519-371-6911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS should you wish to remain anonymous.
Polar Plunge
The annual West Grey Police Polar Plunge for Special Olympics Ontario has been announced March 13th 2020 and will be hosted at St Peters St Paul’s school in Durham. Registration is open to all and donations are being accepted for the event. Sign up now at www.polarplunge.ca/westgrey