Saskatoon police warn of scammers as businesses move online

A person uses their computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

SASKATOON — Saskatoon police say they received more than 100 calls regarding a specific scam on Tuesday.

“As more businesses close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many are offering services online only,” police say in a news release.

“There is already a heightened sense of fear/anxiety around the virus and investigators are urging people to exercise extreme caution, especially when dealing with money online."

Scam calls

According to police, victims are reporting that the scammers are calling them claiming to be from varying levels of government.

The caller informs the victim that they have warrants out for their arrest for money laundering, involvement in child exploitation, or theft.

The scammer then requests personal information and asks for only a few numbers of the victim’s social insurance number. Then they state that the charges can be cleared up by payment through Bitcoin machines.

The scammer then calls back to the same victim at a later time attempting to gather additional numbers of their SIN.

Government employees don’t often contact members of the public via telephone and will never ask for payment through crypto-currency, police say.