Toronto police warn of caller identifying as officer for personal, financial information

Toronto police are warning you about an apparent phone scam involving a caller identifying themselves as a detective in efforts to obtain personal and financial information from the victim.

Constable Caroline de Kloet tells CityNews the caller contacts the victim, identifying as a detective from 51 Division, and tells the victim to call 911 to verify they are an officer. At this point, it’s not clear if the person claiming to be a detective transfers the victim or has the victim call 911 directly, but the call to 911 is then intercepted by accomplices attempting to get personal and financial information.

De Kloet says since they heard about the scam on Monday, there’s only been a few calls and there have not been any successful attempts so far.

“This is always something that’s concerning,” de Kloet said, “what we would recommend people to do, if they get a phone call like this, is to hang up immediately and not continue the conversation.”

There are no reports on file, she said, so no official investigation is underway.

“We really strongly urge the public that if they do receive any sort of phone call that they are skeptical,” de Kloet said, and “not to provide information over the phone, especially personal and financial information because sometimes the information that’s provided to the victim seems pretty credible.” Police are also suggesting people to take the phone number of the individual calling and make sure it matches the number of the detachment they claim to be from.

If you have been scammed, police are asking you to contact the department.

PUBLIC SAFETY ALERT: We have received multiple calls for a phone scam where a caller identifies themselves as a Detective from 51 Division. The caller then tells the victim to call 9-1-1 to verify he’s an officer.

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cc:@TPS51Div

— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) May 16, 2022

If you receive a call from police, look up the contact number of the unit they say they work at. Make sure you have successfully hung up before dialing again.

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— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) May 16, 2022