Winnipeg police warn of scam callers claiming to be from banks
![phone (File photo)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2013/2/5/phone-1-1144319-1634064886199.jpeg)
The Winnipeg Police Service wants the public to be aware and do research before giving money, noting a rise in scam calls from people claiming to be from banks.
Sgt. Trevor Thompson with the financial crimes unit said police have been getting more reports of people getting calls claiming there are unauthorized transactions or access to their bank accounts.
"The interaction between the suspect caller and the victim receiving the call inevitably ends up with the victim directed to move some funds or to do some things in their online banking or in their banking application that results in them losing money," he said.
Thompson said in some cases, the fraudster is spoofing a number related to a bank or providing information that could be specific to their banks, such as daily transaction limits.
He added fraudsters also prey on the emotions of their victims.
"When somebody claims to be their financial institution, can answer some questions or give you some information that makes you believe it to be legitimate, and then on top of that, adds a sense of urgency that bad things are happening to your account right now, 'We need to take mitigating steps to stop it.' That's where the ploy kind of kicks into high gear for the victim," Thompson said.
Thompson added people should treat any message they receive as a possible scheme and hang up immediately.
"Source the phone number, not necessarily from the Internet, but from the back of your debit card or your credit card, or wherever the financial institution is," he said. "Phone the actual number on the physical card, and deal with it that way. They'll be able to tell you if it's legitimate."
Thompson added banks will not ask you to move money over the phone.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7034404.1726088503!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Buy nothing': PSAC wants federal workers to boycott downtown Ottawa businesses
A union representing federal employees is asking its members to bring their own lunch to work, in an apparent retaliation against downtown Ottawa businesses as new return-to-office protocols begin.
Actions speak louder: What experts are saying about the body language in the U.S. presidential debate
The highly anticipated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a heated matchup. Here's what experts who analyzed the exchange had to say.
Jon Bon Jovi helps talk woman down from ledge on Nashville bridge
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi and a video production assistant persuaded a woman standing on the ledge of a pedestrian bridge in Nashville to come back over the railing to safety.
Inside a Manitoba ghost town, a group of ladies works to keep it alive
Abandoned homes line the streets of Lauder, a town that's now a ghost of what it once was. Yet inside, a small community is thriving.
B.C. family says razor blades found in bag of frozen blueberries
The B.C. parents of an 11-year-old girl said their daughter recently found a package containing razor blades in a bag of Kirkland-brand frozen blueberries.
Langenburg UFO sighting commemorated with silver coin
Perhaps Saskatchewan's most famous encounter with Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP/UFO) – "The Langenburg Event" is now being immortalized in the form of a collective coin.
Taylor Swift wins at MTV Video Music Awards and Chappell Roan gets medieval
Taylor Swift and Post Malone took home the first award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, for best collaboration, handed to them by Flavor Flav and Olympian Jordan Chiles.
Man, 70, and woman, 71, found shot dead in Montreal apartment, police
Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man, 70, and woman, 71, were killed by gunshot wounds in an apartment.
Tens of thousands in the dark after Hurricane Francine strikes Louisiana with 100 m.p.h. winds
Hurricane Francine struck Louisiana on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm that forecasters warned could bring deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf Coast.