Saint John police have issued a warning about a cryptocurrency scam making the rounds.
On March 9, police said a person received a call from someone claiming to work for a local business.
“The fraudster told the customer that their account had an outstanding balance, and their service would discontinued unless payment was made immediately,” police said in a news release.
The customer was given a toll-free number to call and was told to visit a “payment centre” which police believe was a local cryptocurrency machine.
They were also sent a QR code with the company’s logo and told to scan the code at the payment centre to process the payment.
“Before payment was made, the customer then called the actual telephone number for the business and discovered this was a scam,” said police.
Police said payment requests made via cryptocurrency should always be considered a red flag.
They urge people not to provide personal or financial info during any inbound or unsolicited phone calls.
Police also recommend calling the company back at their trusted phone number to verify the request.
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