RCMP in Mission, BC have issued a warning about a complex bank scam.

It started May 20th when a 68-year-old woman from Mission was called by a man claiming to be a representative of her bank. He told her, her bank cards were compromised, that the bank would issue new ones and a courier would be by to collect her old cards. A driver from a rideshare company showed up and she handed over her cards. An hour later the same person called again and told the woman scammers had compromised all of her financial accounts. This fraudster then recommended she turn over all her other debit and credit cards. A second rideshare company came to the door and collected her cards. She also provided PIN numbers to the accounts. She realized it was a scam and lost as much as $60,000.

Mission RCMP tracked down one of the rideshare drivers who is cooperating with police and are looking for the second driver. They’ve determined the woman’s bank and credit cards were handed over to a man with facemask on in a Home Depot parking lot. Police note that even if they find the suspect and criminal charges are laid the chances of recovering the stolen funds are low.

This scammer even sent a legitimate-looking email, which included a link the woman clicked on, leading her to call who she thought was her actual bank, when in fact it was just a hyperlink to the scammer’s phone line. Police advise that you independently get the phone number of the financial institution.