{"id":86672,"date":"2026-09-15T08:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=86672"},"modified":"2026-09-15T08:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:29:10","slug":"opp-warning-about-scam-fraudulent-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/opp-warning-about-scam-fraudulent-calls\/","title":{"rendered":"OPP Warning about Scam\/Fraudulent Calls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/OPPCrest-e1501592123859.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-101\" src=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/OPPCrest-e1501592123859.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" \/><\/a>Members of the North West Region of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are warning residents of scams affecting communities within our region.<\/p>\n<p>Residents are being warned about an increase in fraudulent calls from individuals posing as employees of telecommunications companies. These fraudsters use high-pressure tactics to convince victims to provide access to their electronic devices, online banking information, and personal information. While they may sound convincing, they are not affiliated with any legitimate company.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2026, a Kenora resident was told their telecommunications equipment was obsolete and required immediate replacement. During the interaction, the victim was directed to access their online banking and the scammer subsequently gained access to the account and attempted to steal funds.<\/p>\n<p>In August 2026, a Fort Frances resident was offered new telecommunications equipment and was persuaded to provide remote access to their computer. The scammer then falsely claimed the victim&#8217;s bank account had been compromised and convinced them to send money after alleging an overpayment had been made.<\/p>\n<p>Fraud can happen to anyone, and scammers are constantly evolving their tactics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key reminders to protect yourself:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be cautious of unsolicited calls requesting access to your computer, banking apps, or personal information, especially those that pressure you to act immediately.<\/li>\n<li>Legitimate companies will not use aggressive or high-pressure tactics to obtain access to your devices or financial information.<\/li>\n<li>Be wary of requests involving unusual payment methods such as wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.<\/li>\n<li>Never provide remote access to your computer or device to an unsolicited caller.<\/li>\n<li>Do not log into your online banking at the direction of someone who contacted you unexpectedly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fraudsters may contact individuals through phone calls, emails, text messages, or other communication methods. Their goal is to create a sense of urgency, build trust, and convince victims to act before verifying the legitimacy of the request. They create deals that sound too good to be true.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to stay safe:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not provide personal or financial information over the phone to unknown callers<\/li>\n<li>If in doubt, hang up and independently contact the company using verified contact information<\/li>\n<li>Contact your financial institution immediately if you believe your banking information has been compromised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To help prevent victimization, please share this information, especially with those who may be at risk. If you suspect you&#8217;ve been the victim of cybercrime or fraud report it to police at 1-888-310-1122 and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre&#8217;s (CAFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fantifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca%2Freport-signalez-eng.htm&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cerin.mccrea%40opp.ca%7Cb1d3ecef773443639c3508dea6d0e14a%7C73ce4d7298a24f13b5b06c3d3ff1fcd9%7C0%7C0%7C639131613261849033%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=y2ombhKZcX0%2FVQ5z9RZ73NDb1Wjts7%2Fc36EAsWNPdbU%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">online reporting system <\/a>or by phone at 1-888-495-8501. If not a victim, report it to the CAFC anyway as it may save someone else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of the North West Region of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are warning residents of scams affecting communities within our region. Residents are being warned about an increase in fraudulent calls from individuals posing as employees of telecommunications companies. These fraudsters use high-pressure tactics to convince victims to provide access to their electronic devices, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":75103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-22 08:37:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86673,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86672\/revisions\/86673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}