Scammers convinced a Nanaimo woman her son needed a new phone and help paying bills earlier this month. (Dreamstime)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

money lost

‘She let her guard down:’ Nanaimo woman out $4,000 after texting scam

Jan 29, 2024 | 10:43 AM

NANAIMO — A local woman has lost around $4,000 after thinking she was helping her out-of-province son pay some bills.

The unidentified woman alerted Nanaimo RCMP shortly after a Tuesday, Jan. 23 interaction via text message with scammers.

Reserve Cst. Gary O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW the woman had been talking earlier in the day with her son, with texts afterwards indicating some financial troubles.

“She received a text from an unknown number and she assumed it was her son because this person said “I’m stressed and I need some help paying bills.” She wanted to help him out.”

When she asked the person she thought was her son about the different number, the scammer told her he’d had issues with his phone and was using a different one.

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During the subsequent conversation, the woman sent multiple e-Transfers totalling the amount to different email addresses.

At least one went to ‘peterke@wealthsimple.me, while the number used in the scam was 581-702-0162.

“The next morning the scammer came back to hit her up for more then the bells and whistles were going off, she reached out to her son who told her “no Mom, I would never do that”,” O’Brien added. “Then she realized she was scammed.”

In addition to contacting police, the woman also alerted her bank who reimbursed her for around half the damages.

Work continues to try and fully compensate the victim.

O’Brien admitted there was “not a lot of hope” from a criminal investigation standpoint as the only information officers have is a phone number which could be spoofed.

He added police had a “frank, open discussion” with the woman.

“She let her guard down. We all need to learn from this. You have to be aware of who you’re talking to and before you make any financial decisions, take a deep breath, think about what you’re doing.”

O’Brien recommended using a search engine to look up any unfamiliar numbers, to see if scams have been reported in the past.

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