Calgary Police warned of scams practiced by a person impersonating a police officer.

The police said in a statement published on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that we warn Calgary residents of a recently reported financial scam involving individuals claiming to be police officers over the phone.

It explained that earlier this month, a man came to the district office to report suspicious phone calls he received where the person on the other end tried to extort money from him.

Adding that in late February 2024, the victim answered the phone and the caller identified himself as being from Calgary Police Service (CPS) and was calling to inform the victim that he had arrested someone using the victim’s bank card at a local shopping center.

The caller then told the victim that the next step in the investigation was to contact Investigator Mark Baldwin, from the CPS fraud unit, who is a fake officer.

The victim then called the fake officer by phone and was told that his tax-free savings account was at risk and that he needed to transfer an amount of $135,000 to a fake account to protect his funds.

The victim immediately became suspicious and called his bank to report the incident, and fortunately did not lose any money.

Calgary Police CPS clarified that they will never call citizens and ask them to provide financial information or transfer money.

The police said that anyone who has suffered financial loss or scams or had their personal information compromised due to fraud should report it:

CPS: 403-266-1234