Prince George RCMP are raising awareness of common types of scams in the community.
“One of the most commonly reported frauds in Prince George is sextortion,” states Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP.
Sextortion is the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity.
In 2022, reports of sextortion in Prince George increased by 50 per cent, with many of the victims being young males in their teens and early twenties.
On March 1, the Vanderhoof RCMP also warned the public of a sextortion scam happening in the community where police urged the public not to share intimate photos through social media or online.
"Once those images have been sent, you lose any control of how they might be used," Cooper said.
There's also local scams involving Bitcoin.
“In Prince George we have seen a rise in a few different types of scams and frauds, most recently the grandparent scam from last month. We have also received numerous reports of spear fishing scams in Prince George, where victims have paid for services in Bitcoin, which is untraceable, and have not received the service, for example a computer scan for viruses,” Cooper said.
Mounties say if you are a victim of fraud to gather all information about the fraud and to report it to local law enforcement as well as contacting the Canadian anti-fraud centre.
If the fraud took place online, victims should also report the incident directly to the website where it occurred and report the incident to the financial institution where the money was sent.
Victims of identity fraud should also place flags on all their accounts and to both credit bureaus.
You can find more information on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
