In a news release issued Wednesday, Strathcona County RCMP said the “dishonest teller” scam sees victims receive a phone call from someone claiming to be an employee of their bank. The culprit tells the victim that an employee is stealing from their bank account and the bank needs the account owner’s help to stop it.
The fraudster will then tell the victim the bank recovered the lost money, but the account owner needs to withdraw a large amount of cash and give it to someone posing as a security person or bank investigator.
Two women have fallen victim to the scam – an 80-year-old and a 90-year-old – and have been defrauded of a total of $12,500, according to the RCMP.
The victim will be given a number of reasons why they must turn over the funds, claiming they need to check the serial numbers, do an audit or mark the currency and deposit it to see if the “dishonest teller” withdraws any of the money.
Read the full story over at Global News.