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Fraud attempts continue in Oak Bay

Police investigate email threat
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Oak Bay Police. (Black Press File Photo) Oak Bay Police. (Black Press File Photo)

Two more reports of fraud attempts in Oak Bay were made to police last week, part of an ongoing string of frauds.

One was a collection letter from a mobile company for an amount more than $3,000.

“The complainant had never opened an account with them,” said Oak Bay Police Deputy Chief Ray Bernoties. “The mobile company is conducting an internal investigation.”

The other reported last week was a phishing extortion scam that involves someone sending an email to the victim. The email threatens its recipient that the sender is in possession of a compromising and explicit video of the victim in order to extort money from them.

“Unfortunately, this scam has been making its way around the CRD for some time,” Bernoties said, adding Oak Bay police investigated the email.

READ MORE: Gift card scam email nearly dupes Oak Bay resident of $300

These are some of the calls Oak Bay Police responded to between June 8 and 14.

Early in the morning on June 13 police responded to a report of a man suspiciously checking car doors in the 2000-block of Granite Street. Patrols of the area were unable to locate the male.

The next day, on June 14, at approximately 2 a.m. police responded to a suspicious circumstance when a resident saw a vehicle drive away from a neighbour’s residence. The witness noticed the doors of the neighbour’s vehicle were left open, suggesting it had been entered. The registered owner of the vehicle confirmed access was made to their vehicle but nothing was taken. The suspicious vehicle or its operators were not located.

On June 12 a “valtag” or ICBC license sticker was reportedly pulled off a vehicle in the 800-block of Runnymede Place.

Last week multiple Oak Bay police officers conducted curfew checks on the prolific offenders residing in Oak Bay. Many of them were not present during the checks and multiple breach reports were forwarded to their probation officers.

READ ALSO: Deer traps woman onto random doorstep in Oak Bay

The new driver who had their vehicle impounded on June 8 by Oak Bay police for speeding 110 km/h in a 40 km/h zone on Beach Drive will get their vehicle back this week as police had impounded it seven days. They were also given a $477 fine.

To help prevent being caught by a scam or fraud attempt, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm.

reporter@oakbaynews.com


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