The RCMP is warning the public of fraudulent telephone calls that appear to be coming from them.
Those that answer the phone are told there’s a warrant for their arrest and they can take care of it by making a bitcoin payment or money transfer.
The fraudsters are using Caller ID spoofing, which the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre describes as disguising telephone numbers appearing on a caller ID display.
The tool allows the scammers to appear as if they were coming from local or familiar numbers to trick people into answering and trusting the caller.
Julie Courchaine of the Manitoba RCMP says in a press release,
"We want to remind the public that the RCMP would never contact individuals through email or telephone to request payment or monetary transfers."
If you have received similar telephones calls or know of someone who has, contact your local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or through their online reporting tool.
