Contact Information

Brandon Police Service

1020 Victoria Avenue
Brandon, MB

Emergencies 911

Non-Emergencies 204-729-2345

Occasionally police receive reports of victims receiving emails or pop-ups that appear to be from legitimate companies, but they are fake.

There are various forms this fraud, but the common theme is that fraudsters will try to obtain information from victims such as a Social Insurance Number, or banking information.  Fraudsters will try to convince victims that they owe money. 

On January 13, 2022, a local Brandon victim was convinced to purchase $3000 worth in Google Play gift cards.  The internet fraudsters convinced the victim through a faked email that they owed money to a real company that offers antivirus computer protection.  The victim provided the gift card code numbers to the fraudsters who were pretending to represent the company.

The reason victims are asked to use methods in payment such as gift cards, (ITunes, Google Play etc.) or cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, is that these methods are not possible for police to trace to the suspects.  The lost money will not be recovered.  Legitimate businesses, government entities such as Revenue Canada, Service Canada, and police will never ask for payment using these methods.  Police will never ask for payment to make an arrest warrant go away.

Please do not believe everything you see on the internet.  Be aware of urgent-looking messages that pop up while you are browsing online.  Do not click on these pop-ups and do not call the phone number they provide.  Watch out for emails with spelling and formatting errors, and be cautious of external links or attachments, they may contain viruses or spyware.  Never give anyone remote access to your computer, if it needs servicing, take it to a technician in person.

For more information on current frauds and how to protect yourself, please visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)

 

Sergeant Kirby Sararas #119

Public Information Officer

Community Support

For media inquiries: (204)729-2373 or k.sararas@brandon.ca

 

For general inquiries or to file a report:

(204)729-2345 or https://www.brandon.ca/police-contact/police-contact

 

Anyone with information on any unsolved crime is asked to call Brandon Crime Stoppers at 204-727-(TIPS) 8477, www.brandoncrimestoppers.com or by texting BCSTIP and your message to CRIMES (274637).  Crime Stoppers pays up to $2000.00 cash for information that leads to the solution of a crime.

CRIME STOPPERS 204-727-TIPS