A few police detachments have noticed the number of frauds in Renfrew County is increasing.
Both the Renfrew and Upper Ottawa Valley branches of the OPP have received reports from multiple victims over the last month. Most notably, an elderly couple in Petawawa lost more than $100,000 to scammers over the last few months. The scammer posed as a law enforcement official and urged the couple to move their money into a separate account, as the fraudster said their money was at risk. When the money was not returned, the couple contacted police.
Renfrew OPP responded to 20 fraud-related incidents alone, several of which were bitcoin-centred. Several of these scams pretended to alert the victims that they were victims of fraud and to provide money and personal information to fix the situation.
As a result, both detachments are urging residents to be wary of any unsolicited calls that claim to be from a financial institution. They say if you are asked to provide all your banking and password information, it is a dead giveaway for a scam.