A senior from Perth County has lost $320,000 because of a computer pop-up scam, police say.
Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are now asking the public for help identifying the suspects who picked up $80,000 in cash and 100g gold bars worth over $240,000 from the victim’s home as a part of the scam.
Police say the scam began in November 2024 when the victim clicked on a pop-up window on their computer. The pop-up directed the victim to call a provided number, which connected her to a person pretending to be a Microsoft representative. The fake representative told the victim her finances have been compromised.
Police say the scammer then directed the victim to withdraw the cash and buy the gold bars from an online company.
Jill Johnson, a media spokesperson for Perth County OPP, said after the gold was eventually delivered to the victim’s house, suspects went to the victim’s house to pick up the cash and gold.
“[The victim] believed that they had to withdraw their money and keep it safe,” Johnson said, adding the people picking up the money told the victim they were going to deposit it at the “Bank of Canada” for her, for safekeeping as a courtesy.
Johnson said it’s uncommon to see a scam involving actual gold bars.
“It’s not a common scam to include gold bars. We’ve seen everything from gift cards and cash, obviously different things like that, but this is definitely unique.”
Provincial police are hoping the public will help them identify the individuals seen picking up the gold and cash from the victim’s house.
They are being described as men between the ages of 25 and 35 years old, short in stature with short dark hair.
Police say the men were seen driving a white Lexus sedan and a smaller dark coloured sedan while doing the pickups.
Millions lost to fraud
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says more than 30,000 people have been defrauded in 2024, for a combined total of $503 million lost to fraud — from romance scams to identity theft.
Det. Const. John Armit is a part of the OPP’s economic crimes and corruption unit, anti-rackets branch and financial crimes services.
He said there were 460,000 calls to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre last year, but the organization can only process 250 calls a day.
Armit said that’s why it’s important for victims to get the word out that they’ve been scammed.
“By posting stuff about these bad actors, I think it’s naming and shaming,” he said.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of cyber crime or fraud. Prevention is the biggest tool that we have to protect the public, but also reporting it so we can disrupt it.”