International student scammed out of $3,500: RCMP

Police have released details of an international student scam that conned an Okanagan student out of thousands of dollars.

Mounties say on Oct. 26, 2022 a report was made to the RCMP that an international student attending a post secondary institution in Kelowna was threatened with deportation during a scam phone call.

“The caller told the student she would be deported if she did not pay $3,500 via bitcoin,” said Constable Mike Della-Paolera. “The victim, unfamiliar with Canadian laws, completed the transaction without informing friends or family out of fear they would deport her.”

Police say government agency employees will never ask for a payment to be made using cryptocurrency.

“If a payment is required, government employees do not use threats or extreme urgency like the tactics used by scammers in these types of frauds,” Della-Paolera said.

Mounties affirm that if the person won’t let you off the phone or makes any types of threats if the call were to end, this is fraud and should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and your local police.

Regardless if money is given to the scammers or not, police are asking for the call to be reported. The Anti-Fraud Centre keeps an updated database of the various types of frauds affecting Canadians.

If you received a suspicious call, hang up immediately and:

• call your local police if you lost money.
• report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.