Central Saanich Police are again warning people not to give out personal information online after a resident was duped by an official-looking email.
The resident reported to police that the email appeared to be from their financial institution. After opening, reading and responding to the email, the resident discovered a substantial amount of money removed from an account, police said.
“You will find that these criminals who prey on people via the internet are very good at setting up very legitimate looking bank logos and official requests,” said media liaison Cpl. Janis Jean. “Financial institutions in Canada will not solicit information on email, it’s really important that people recognize that … these are criminals actively looking to take money from people.”
Other scams include official appearing emails from eBay and PayPal.
“Never give personal information, account information, password information over email,” Jean said. “Always phone that institution in person.”
