Scammers pretending to be police officers online

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RCMP warns of scammers posing as police officers in fraudulent emails.

Radio-Canada

Kings District RCMP say they have received numerous complaints regarding unsolicited emails where scammers threaten recipients with retaliation if they do not contact them.

Once contact is made, the scammers, who use real police officers' names, demand payment, including cash, gift cards or cryptocurrency. Scammers sometimes also try to obtain personal information from their victims.

In a press release sent Monday morning, the RCMP indicates that several fraudulent emails insinuated that the recipient had recently visited pornographic sites, including child pornography sites, and asked them to contact them or their file would be sent to a other competent authority.

The RCMP reminds that the police do not act in this way and do not make threats.

< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hNZoeU">You should be wary of unsolicited contact, whether by phone, text or email, especially when asking for personal information or payment, said Sergeant Wayne Ross of the Offenses Section in a statement. RCMP commercial operations in Nova Scotia. If you are contacted and have questions about the person, contact the organization they claim to represent by looking for contact information yourself in a telephone directory or on their website.

The police invite people who receive this type of unsolicited email not to click on the links in the message.

Scammers are very convincing and always represent a risk in the event of direct contact, the press release specifies.

The RCMP invites anyone who receives this type of message to tell their family, friends, neighbors and colleagues in order to to prevent someone from becoming a victim of such fraud.