The provincial police are alerting the public about a persistent scam where fraudsters are deceiving individuals into converting their money into gold. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of Nova Scotia issued a statement highlighting that the culprits are posing as police officers in this alarming scheme.

Victims of this scam are contacted by individuals who claim to be part of a fraud department of a major banking institution. During these encounters, the scammers inform the victims that their finances are at risk due to potential hacking threats. They then instruct the victims to purchase gold from a reputable online dealer in Canada, using their savings and investments as payment.

After securing the gold, the fraudsters instruct the victims to hand the purchased gold over to a police officer for “safekeeping.” These scammers even go as far as producing fake badges to gain the victims' trust during in-person meetings when collecting the gold. The RCMP has noted that similar incidents have been reported across various regions in the country, indicating that this type of fraud is widespread.

Cpl. Mitch Thompson from the Commercial Crime Section emphasized that police do not take financial instruments from citizens for safekeeping. He underscored that banks will never instruct customers to withdraw their money to purchase other assets, reinforcing the unusualness of these requests.

The RCMP is currently investigating one specific incident, primarily because one of the scammers presented a counterfeit RCMP badge. It’s important to note that during this encounter, the scammer was not in police uniform and did not arrive in a police vehicle, which further highlights the deceptive nature of these criminals.

The police urge the public to exercise caution if they receive any unsolicited calls from their bank. In such situations, individuals should hang up and refrain from following any directions given by the caller. Instead, they should reach out directly to their local bank branch, call the number on the back of their debit or credit card, or seek advice from someone they trust regarding the appropriate next steps to take.