The North Bay Police Service is warning residents about a couple of scams.
One involves investment scams that are circulating online while others are impersonating police.
Officials say fraudsters often use a “spoofed” phone number, that says it’s from city police but isn’t.
They say scammers may ask for a donation to the police service or bail money for a friend or relative of the victim.
Police say no law enforcement agency will threaten you to pay bail for someone, will never solicit donations; we will never request that bail be paid in cash or with cryptocurrency; and they won’t pick up bail funds from your home or accept them through online transfer.
They add there is no such thing as a “gag order” that prevents you from telling another person that someone has been arrested and charged.
North Bay Police have also received several reports of cryptocurrency-related investment scams stemming from AI-generated “Deep Fake” videos, images or audio.
Police say the reported scams often use Deep Fakes to fraudulently present a successful or wealthy individual in an ad endorsing a product, service, or investment that they are not in reality linked to.
Tips from police in relation to Deep Fakes and fraud in general include:
- Be skeptical of unusual requests
- Don’t invest your money unless you have done your due diligence
- Be aware that just because it’s on Google or similar search engines doesn’t prove it is legitimate
- NEVER allow remote access to your computer
- Fraudsters play on your emotions (e.g. panic, fear, greed, sympathy/compassion, love/romance) and will pressure you to make decisions without thinking them over. This is a major red flag
- If you receive unsolicited calls, be wary that it is likely fraud
- If it seems too good to be true, it is
- TAKE 5, TELL 2. Before making any decision, take 5 minutes to think it over and tell two people you trust. If you do this, in most cases, you’ll realize it’s a fraud
- Educate elderly family members about various fraud schemes as they’re often the targets of fraud
If you are a victim of fraud or have information about this or similar scams, report it to the North Bay Police Service at (705)-497-5555 or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
