$1.1M lost in just over a month to fraudsters posing as Chinese police: Richmond RCMP
![RCMP generic uniform An RCMP patch is seen on the shoulder of a Surrey RCMP Officer in Charge during a news conference in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/4/19/rcmp-generic-uniform-1-6854471-1713556805407.jpg)
Mounties in Richmond say more than a million dollars was lost to fraudsters posing as police or government officials in just over a month.
The detachment issued a warning Friday, saying it received seven reports of scammers pretending to be police between March 1 and April 8. While no money was sent in three of the cases, a total of $1.1 million was lost in the other instances.
Police said the fraudsters posed as Chinese police or government officials while targeting their victims.
"These fraudsters can be very convincing. They employ various tactics to trick people including spoofing legitimate phone numbers, or making threats of police action if payment is not made," said Sgt. Dave Au in a news release. "Ultimately, they have one objective, to get your money."
Mounties explained anyone who is asked by someone claiming to be a government official for payment in Bitcoin, Google Play or iTunes gifts cards should hang up and report the incident to police.
It's not just police-related scams locals need to watch out for. Last month, Richmond RCMP said in a warning residents of that city lost more than $16 million in 2023 to "sophisticated online scams combining romance and investment schemes." Known as "pig butchering scams," police said the perpetrators typically spend weeks or months "grooming" their victims, often beginning their interaction "under the guise of a mistaken identity."
"These types of scams continue to surface in our community and unfortunately people continue to fall prey to these fraudsters," Cpl. Adriana O’Malley said in a statement. "These frauds can have a devastating financial and emotional impact on the victims which is why we continue to issue these public warnings in the hope of preventing further victimization."
Anyone who thinks they've been a victim of a scam should contact their local police department and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ian Holliday
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978861.1722008569!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are "standing and intact," including its iconic main lodge.
Major Canadian bank dealing with direct deposit outage on pay day
Scotiabank has acknowledged technical difficulties affecting direct deposits as clients report missed payments Friday morning. On Friday morning, the bank's client services phone line was playing an automated message assuring customers that work was underway to rectify the outage.
Elon Musk's estranged daughter calls out his 'entirely fake' claims about her childhood
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's estranged daughter, publicly refuted several recent anti-trans statements her Tesla CEO and X owner father has made about her.
Reported rate of child pornography increased 52% in 2023, total crime up 3%: Statistics Canada
Last year, reported child pornography cases increased by more than 50 per cent in Canada, in part due to more cases being sent to police by specialized internet child exploitation units, according to a Statistics Canada report.
Sask. appeal court says anti-trans group cannot join constitutional dispute over pronoun law
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has denied a political group that opposes so-called “gender ideology” intervener status in a legal dispute over the province’s controversial pronoun law.
Justin Timberlake's attorney disputes he was intoxicated when arrested for DWI
A hearing in the case of Justin Timberlake being accused of driving while intoxicated was held Friday, where an attorney for the singer disputed his arrest in June.
What we know about 'malicious' attack on French train network ahead of Olympics opening
French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony after a series of co-ordinated 'malicious acts' upended high-speed train lines.Here's what happened and what we know so far.
When Barbie learned what a gynecologist was, so did many other people, according to new study
A new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open has found that the ending in the 2023 blockbuster film 'Barbie' had an influence on online search interest in terms around gynecology, the branch of medicine that deals with women’s reproductive health.
Canada Soccer head investigating 'systemic ethical shortcoming' amid spying scandal
Canada Soccer chief executive officer Kevin Blue said he was investigating a potential 'systemic ethical shortcoming' within the program but has not considered pulling the women's soccer team from the Paris Olympics due to a drone spying scandal.