Urgent Warning: Email Scam Impersonating RCMP Commissioner Targets Local Residents

The scam email typically contains alarming messages, such as:

DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING WITHIN THIS EMAIL. With emails from scammers it is best to never open attachments or links to avoid giving the scammers access to your devices or data.

These unsolicited emails often threaten recipients to make contact under false pretenses. The emails use the names and positions of real police officers, increasing their legitimacy and inducing fear. Once contact is made through a fake email provided in the message, the scammers demand personal information or financial assets such as cash, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. In some cases, the email claims the recipient has visited inappropriate websites and threatens to report this information unless they respond.

First thing you need to do is inform your local police station of these types of scams. They have ongoing investigations into scams like these and with more information it will help them fight these types of attacks locally. 

Second thing is to remember NEVER open ANY links or attachments in an email that you get and are not familiar with the senders email. Be aware to look at the from/sender emails as well. Some that may seem familiar can be very very fake. Like the one above, infos.rcmp.ca@gmail.com. It almost looks real but the RCMP would never use an email like this.

If you are ever worried about emails like this you can find solutions like Trend Micro and other email security services that monitor your incoming mail and can layer in that next level of security you may need. Or reach out to your local police to find out if the sender or someone else has been reported as a spam sender or what to look for in the email that may concern you.