Immigration Canada scam leads to fake gun call in Waterloo

CTV Kitchener: Fraud scam prompts gun call When a Waterloo man recognized a phone scam and hung up, the scammer placed a call to police. Nicole Lampa explains what happened next.

Police officers were called to a Waterloo neighbourhood in response to a call about a person with a gun – only to learn that it was apparently part of a scam none of them had ever heard of before.

For police, the series of events began a little after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

“(We) received a report of two men, armed with guns, trying to access a residence,” said police spokesperson Alana Russell.

“As a result of the seriousness of that call, we responded with our tactical unit.”

The caller claimed they were at a home on Ladyslipper Drive in northwest Waterloo.

When police got to the house, they didn’t see any guns or any other sort of suspicious activity.

They knocked on the door, and learned that the man inside was just as confused as they were.

The man soon realized there was a connection between the visit from police and a phone call he’d had just a few minutes earlier.

“A call had been placed to them by someone impersonating Immigration Canada, who had asked them to purchase a coupon for approximately $2,500,” Russell said.

The caller threatened to call the police if the man didn’t comply with the demand, Russell said – and when the man recognized the call as a scam and hung up, the person on the other end of the line made good on their threat.

Police say this incident was the first of its type in Waterloo Region. They want anyone else who receives a similar call to hang up and contact police.

With reporting by Nicole Lampa