An East Sooke man is out thousands of dollars after falling for an internet scam.
The victim told police that a pop-up window appeared on his computer indicting that their
Microsoft program had been hacked and as a result their bank account had been
compromised.
This is a common scam where victims will often talk to someone by phone who claims to be police or another authority, and tells them to withdraw or transfer funds in order to protect them from the so-called hackers.
In this case, the victim called the number that was provided on the screen of his computer and spoke with a man who claimed to be from their bank.
Following the steps from the scammer, the man subsequently withdrew $27,000 from his account and deposited into bitcoin machines, before realizing he had been scammed.
He reported the incident to police the day after the scam. It’s unclear why he reported it to Oak Bay Police rather than Sooke RCMP.
Anyone who has concerns about the security of financial accounts should discuss them with their bank before withdrawing or transferring funds.
Authorities will never demand payment in Bitcoin or gift cards to protect your bank account.
