Kingston, Ont. woman loses $30,000 to fraudster claiming to work for CBSA

KINGSTON, ONT. -

Police in Kingston, Ont. are investigating after a woman lost her life savings to a scammer claiming to be calling from the Canada Border Services Agency.

The woman called police on Tuesday, saying she had just been defrauded of $30,000 in funds after receiving a call from an individual who said they worked for the CBSA.

The individual told the woman her account was being seized as a result of drugs, fake identifications and fraudulent accounts being opened in her name, and that local police would be following up with her at a later date.

Police say the fraudster continued correspondence with the victim by email, portraying themselves as a border agent and provided instructions on how to use their "safeguard machines."

The victim followed all of the instructions provided and transferred $30,000.

"It was determined after the transfers were completed that the 'safeguard machines' the suspects were referring to were in fact Bitcoin machines," said police on Friday.

"The victim then received a call from an officer identifying themselves as Sgt. Marshall with the Kingston police and that the caller ID appeared as Kingston police with the correct telephone number. This technique of masking or replicating phone numbers is called 'spoofing.'"

Police say the victim became suspicious after the fake cop reprimanded her for asking legitimate questions and accused her of not co-operating.

There are currently no suspects in the incident.

Police say that at no time will police, Canada Border Services Agency or any financial institution call and ask you for personal information or to send money via a cryptocurrency.

“The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is aware there have been recent cases of individuals posing fraudulently as CBSA officials using email, text messages and telephone calls,” said the CBSA in a statement to CTV News Ottawa on Saturday.

“We can tell you that these calls are fraudulent and that the CBSA will never call asking for an individual’s personal information or to issue a warrant.”

The CBSA says in some cases, scammers use false CBSA information.

“Telephone calls may display numbers and employee names that falsely appear to be from the CBSA. Emails may contain CBSA logos, email addresses or employee names and titles to mislead the public,” said the CBSA.

Officials encourages anyone receiving these calls to report them to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.