Chatham-Kent police want to bail residents after being called Wednesday to investigate another fraud complaint stemming from a scam phone call.
Police said the complainant received a phone call from a person claiming to be an employee of the Canadian anti-fraud center, stating the complaint’s name was associated with fraudulent transactions.
In order to have their name removed, the scammer said the resident needed to purchase $3,500 in gift cards that would be returned within 48 hours, police said.
The caller also threatened if these instructions were not followed a warrant would be issued for their arrest, police added.
The victim was advised there is a very low likelihood of identifying those responsible due to anonymizing tools and phone number spoofing technology, police said.
“Police continue to receive reports of suspicious phone calls from people purporting to be from the CRA, legal or financial organizations,” stated the media release. “Scammers may use threatening language or an aggressive tone to scare you into making payments.”