The Oak Bay Police Department is warning about the latest fraud scam: Jury duty.
An Oak Bay resident was contacted last week by someone impersonating a member of the Skagit County Sheriff's Department.
The caller claimed the recipient had failed to attend jury duty and needed to pay a bond to avoid legal consequences.
The caller then transferred the conversation to another individual falsely claiming to be an Oak Bay Police officer.
The fraudulent officer provided instructions to send money via Bitcoin ATMs at two local locations.
At that point the resident became suspicious and ended the call.
Similar scam incidents have also been reported to the Saanich Police Department.
These fraudsters are known to spoof the police department’s non-emergency phone number, which is what occured in the Oak Bay incident.