Last week the Prince Albert Police Service advised the public of recent complaints involving phone fraud whereby someone claims to be a family member in an emergency and requires money for various purposes.
In response to the multiple fraudulent phone calls, the Crime Reduction Team and Proactive Policing Unit assisted with the investigation and made two arrests.
Gurshan Singh, age 21, and Jasleen Kaur, age 20, both from Saskatoon, appeared in Prince Albert Court on September 12, 2024, on charges of fraud exceeding $5,000.
Police believe multiple people were involved, and the investigation continues.
The police are reminding the public of frauds centred around false emergencies. While this fraud has been around for some time now, there have been recent complaints of this activity in the city of Prince Albert.
This common scam involves a potential victim, often an older adult, receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be a family member in an emergency and requiring money for various purposes. A large sum of money is requested, and a ‘password’ is provided to the victim. The fraudster then arranges for someone to pick up the money and ‘password’.
If you receive a suspicious phone call, ask important questions of the caller to verify their identity, but refrain from offering additional information about yourself, including your address. Alternately, hang up and call that family member directly to verify their location and well-being and/or connect with other relatives to fact-check the call. If the caller is claiming to be law enforcement or a representative of another profession, hang up and call the authority directly to verify the information. Fraudsters leverage urgency and panic to coerce the victim to comply with their request. Always use extreme caution, especially when being asked to send a form of currency.
If you have been a victim of fraud and suffered a financial loss, please report the incident online at https://www.papolice.ca or call the non-emergency number at 306-953-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Tips can be submitted anonymously online at https://www.p3tips.com/248.
If you were contacted about this type of scam but did not experience financial loss, please contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or visit http://www.antifraudcentre.ca/.