'Elaborate' B.C. fraud scheme involved impersonating corporate security and police, Kelowna RCMP say

The Kelowna RCMP detachment is seen in an undated CTV News file image.

Mounties in Kelowna are warning the public after a local resident fell victim to an "elaborate" fraud last week.

The incident was reported to police on June 26, Kelowna RCMP said in a news release Friday.

It started with the victim receiving "an alert text message" that appeared to be from "a popular online retailer." Police did not specify the company the fraudsters were impersonating.

The text message said the victim had "several open accounts" that were being investigated for fraud, and instructed the victim to contact the retailer by phone.

When the victim did so, they spoke to a person posing as a security agent for the retailer, who instructed the victim to contact the "Canadian Anti-Fraud Unit" to resolve the issue, according to police.

The call was automatically transferred to the purported fraud unit, where another individual told the victim to withdraw $4,800 in cash and deposit it into a "verification machine," which was also a bitcoin terminal, police said.

"The victim became suspicious and stated they were going to phone the police to verify these allegations," the Kelowna RCMP release reads.

"The alleged employee hung up."

Shortly thereafter, the victim received a phone call from the Kelowna RCMP non-emergency phone number. The caller provided a name and badge number and instructed the victim to make the deposit, "adding there was a warrant for their arrest and this was the only recourse to avoid being arrested," police said.

"The victim later contacted the Kelowna RCMP themselves and confirmed this was, in fact, a fraud," the release reads, noting that there was no officer in the detachment by the name that had been provided.

Unfortunately, the victim only learned this after depositing the money in the bitcoin terminal, according to police.

"Anyone being directed to withdraw and deposit money into a bitcoin terminal, purchase iTunes gift cards or any other similar type of currency, should immediately assume this is a fraud and contact the RCMP themselves to verify," said Cpl. Michael Gauthier, in the release.