Team of fraudsters in Okanagan area

Kelowna

2024-03-19 15:06 PDT

File # 2024-13913

The Kelowna Regional Detachment is asking the public and business owners throughout the region to be on the lookout for potential fraudsters pretending to have disabilities and collecting money for an alleged charity.

On March 17, 2024, an individual alerted the West Kelowna RCMP of two suspicious women in the parking lot of a business located in the 3600-block of Carrington Rd. The witness was approached by two women with blue clipboards who claimed to be deaf and asked for cash toward an alleged charity. Suspicious of the two, the witness declined and would later observe the two communicating between each other seemingly without disability before observing them asking other bystanders again for money, but with communication difficulty.

On March 18, 2024, two male and two female suspects were reported travelling around different mall locations in the Vernon area posing as persons with disabilities and collecting money for an alleged charity. The four are also believed to be working together simultaneously distracting mall employees while another managed to steal five Apple iPhones from one particular store location.

These four individuals are believed to be the same suspects who have committed identical offences in the Lake Louise and Banff, Alberta areas on March 8, 2024.

Photos of the female suspects were taken as recently as March 17, 2024 by the witness in West Kelowna. Photos of the male suspects were captured on CCTV as recently as March 18, 2024 in Vernon. These individuals are believed to be in the greater Okanagan area or possibly heading toward Alberta.

Should you observe these individuals in your community and you believe they are committing an offence including fraudulently asking for charity donations, please contact your local police office immediately and make note of any associated vehicles.

Anyone with information as to their identity or whereabouts are asked to phone the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 and reference Kelowna RCMP File 2024-13913. You may also report information anonymously to the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.crimestoppers.net.

Team of fraudsters