Fraudster posing as Waterloo Regional Police Service officer targets victim

A man holds a cellphone in this undated stock image. (Porapak Apichodilok/Pexels.com)

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is putting out a warning about scammers pretending to be officers.

A Wilmot Township man said he received a phone call from an unknown man on Monday. The caller identified himself as a police officer and gave the name of a real Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Fraud Unit investigator. The fraudster also used a spoofing tool to hide the number he was calling from, and instead display the police’s non-emergency number on the victim’s caller ID.

The caller told the man his bank accounts had been linked to criminal activity and would be frozen if he hung up the phone.

Police said the man didn’t lose any money, but the investigation is ongoing.

WRPS say police will not demand payment for financial information and will not threaten or attempt to extort people if they do not comply with demands made over the phone.

Anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by this scam and shared personal information is urged to report it to police by calling 519-570-9777 or file a report online at https://www.wrps.on.ca/en/services-reporting/online-reporting-.aspx.