NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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PERTH COUNTY — The Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has received multiple reports of computer pop-up scams lately, and unfortunately a Perth County resident has lost a significant amount of money after they received a notification on their computer indicating there was a security breach of their personal information.
In November 2024, a Township of Perth East resident noticed a pop up on their computer, directing them to call a provided number due to a security breach. The person on the other end claimed to work for Microsoft, and remote access was granted to the victim's computer. The victim was told that their finances had been compromised.
The victim was directed to withdraw cash from their financial institution, totalling $80,000, and to purchase over $240,000 worth of 100g gold bars from an online company. The gold was delivered to the victim's house by a delivery company, and on five separate occasions over the next two weeks, unknown people attended the residence to pick up the cash and gold.
The persons of interest are described as:
- Asian males
- Between 25-35 years of age
- Short, dark hair
- Described as short in stature
Vehicles of interest:
- While Lexus sedan
- Dark coloured small sedans (unknown make/model)
The investigation is ongoing.
The Perth County OPP encourages the public to stay alert and educated to reduce the risk of being a victim of fraud. If you receive an unsolicited phone call or message, asking for personal information (name, birthday, address, phone number, bank information, SIN number) or payment via gift cards for a product, do not provide the information and hang-up the phone and block the phone number. Legitimate organizations do not receive payments by gift cards of any type.
Warning signs to look out for when receiving unsolicited messages include: Emails, text-messages or phone calls sent at odd times of the night, creating a false sense of urgency, spelling errors, lack of punctuation or capitals in sentences, automated messages, random links or attachments, and generic business or company names.
Should you wish to remain anonymous you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or leave an anonymous online message at www.P3tips.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
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