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January 24, 2024 - 7:00 PM
A West Kelowna resident was in for a nasty surprise when a call from the RCMP turned out to be a scam that could have cost her $1,000.
Tanya Federici was at work when she received a call from a BC number, claiming they were from Amazon.
“Because it was an area code that was local, I thought I better answer it because I never know if it's a customer,” Federici told iNFOnews.ca. “They were looking at a purchase and kind of questioning it because it was a purchase for about $700 for an iPhone.”
Federici is a District Sales Manager with iNFOnews.ca's parent company, iNFOTEL MULTIMEDIA.
Federici said she didn’t make the purchase. The caller proceeded to ask her about her bank accounts and suggested she speak with the RCMP as the purchase looked fraudulent. Moments later, Federici received a call from a number matching the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa: +1 613-993-7267.
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“I said how do I know who you are? And he said, 'I’m from RCMP headquarters in Ottawa'. He gave me his name and a badge number.”
Reassured, Federici listened to the supposed officer for further instructions.
The caller asked if she had used her SIN or date of birth in any recent communications. Federici believed she had while organizing her upcoming vacation. The caller then told her that her SIN was likely compromised.
“He said it looks like there are about four bogus bank accounts that have been built around your SIN number.”
The scammer then told Federici that her SIN could be attached to money laundering and drug activities and that her bank accounts would have to be put on a 48-hour hold until Federici could have a new SIN assigned.
“(He said) 'what you'll need to do is go to your banks and take the cash out of the accounts, (but) leave $100 there so you don't close the account’. But all along he's like ‘don't tell anybody at the bank what you're there to do because it could even be bank people that are part of the situation.’”
READ MORE: Phone scammers using Kelowna RCMP number to steal your information
The caller instructed Federici to go to the bank and to keep him on the line as the phone call was being recorded.
Federici had to cancel an appointment with a client in order to get to the bank in time.
“I'm all flustered and he says, 'well I think that protecting yourself… is more important than work at the moment, wouldn't you think?'”
Federici withdrew $1,000 from her account and waited for the next steps.
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The caller told her that the money would then need to be transferred to a secure government digital wallet.
“I said, well I'll tell you what I’m not feeling comfortable with this, I think I'll just drive to the RCMP detachment here in town and he says, 'they won't know anything about this because this investigation has just opened'. I said, 'well maybe they could talk to you on the phone and confirm who you are.'”
“I started to get excited, and he said, ‘don't speak to me in that tone of voice’. I said well, I'm just going to drive to the RCMP office now and then he hung up.”
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Federici went to her local RCMP office. She said the woman working at the front desk seemed unsurprised when she relayed what happened.
Federici was told the RCMP couldn’t open a file if she hadn’t lost any money. Instead, it was suggested that she contact Equifax and TransUnion to audit her accounts.
“I'm an educated person. I don't think that I should be this gullible. But he made it sound so real, that I was following instructions,” Federici said. “Am I a rule follower? Yes. Am I gullible? Maybe. People would say I would be. But I listen to authority too.”
No one from Kelowna RCMP was available for comment.
If you have been defrauded or suspect you may be the victim of a scam, contact your local RCMP or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Georgina Whitehouse or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
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