The Ontario Provincial Police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warn people about scammers impersonating major Canadian banks.

The scam involves a "bank investigator" making a phone call from someone claiming to be from a bank, the police, or an online retailer, seeking the victim's assistance in an "ongoing investigation" into the breach of the victim's bank account.

The scammers will convince victims to send an electronic transfer via Interac to their mobile phone number. The suspect will inform the victim of the necessary steps to add themselves as beneficiaries and increase the daily electronic transfer limit via Interac.

The suspect provides the electronic transfer question and the answer that the victim should use for the transfer. Once the victim sends the electronic transfer via Interac to their mobile number, the suspects will ask the victim for a "code," which is the last part of the Interac electronic transfer URL/link that they received. If the victim provides the URL, the suspects will have the ability to deposit money into their own account.

In some cases, the scammer may ask the target to provide their online banking login information, including two-factor authentication codes, as part of the "investigation," giving the scammer access to the victim's funds.

More forms of this scam can be found on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.