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The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) is warning residents about a sharp rise in the “bank investigator” scam, which has defrauded locals of roughly $522,000 across 43 incidents since the start of 2025.
In this scam, fraudsters call victims pretending to be bank employees investigating suspicious activity. Using spoofing apps to mask their caller ID as a legitimate bank number, they often convince victims to cut up their cards and hand them over to someone who arrives in person—giving scammers access to their accounts.
Police emphasize that banks will never ask customers to assist in fraud investigations, share passwords or security codes or hand over debit or credit cards. HRPS is urging the public to be cautious of unfamiliar calls, verify any suspicious messages independently, avoid clicking unknown links, and never give out authentication codes or personal information.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to call HRPS at 905-825-4777, the Financial Crimes Unit at 905-465-8741, or report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
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