The two suspects arrested are alleged to have scammed 570 people of millions of dollars. RCMP photo.
An RCMP Cyber Crime unit has arrested two Toronto residents who are accused of scamming more than 500 victims of millions of dollars in a bank teller or police calling schemes.
The Mounties believe the two used technology to hide their phone numbers, deceiving people into thinking they were speaking with their bank, a government employee or police staff.
Cybercrime investigators raided the suspects’ residence, seizing a “trove” of items including “electronic devices,” police said in a press release. The RCMP says they are aware of 570 victims of the phone scams and hope more will come forward now.
Many residents of South Etobicoke have complained about the scam calls, which displays a legitimate official number on caller ID.
The RCMP alleged the pair on the telephone posed as bank, police or government workers to scam residents.
The scam involved residents receiving calls from suspects posing as bank, police or Canadian government workers claiming that criminals had accessed their bank accounts and they required money, their passwords or account numbers to catch the thieves.
The information was then used to steal from their accounts.
Police allege the pair used a website that allow “criminals to impersonate corporations by displaying a fake caller identification.”
Chakib Mansouri, 29, and Majdouline Alouah, 31, have been charged with unauthorized use of computer, laundering proceeds of crime, unauthorized possession of credit card data and possessing the proceeds of crime.
Both are in custody and will appear in court on February 21.
According to Statistics Canada, more than 40,000 cybercrimes were reported from January to June 2024, police said. Fraud accounted for 56 per cent of the violations, child pornography accounted for 16 per cent, and harassing and threatening behaviours accounted for 14 per cent, as reported by the police.