Regional Police are investigating after a student from a local university was scammed out of a ‘substantial’ amount of money.

Police say on April 30th, the student reported getting a call from someone he believed to be from the Chinese Consulate in Toronto.

The caller then transferred the student to a fake officer who said there were working for the Bejing Police department. They told the student they were a key person in a fraud investigation and had to return to China or wire money to bank accounts in Hong Kong, which would be held during the alleged investigation.

Police say the student became scared and wired a substantial amount of cash to two accounts. The student was later contacted again and told they had been cleared of wrong-doing, but needed to pay a fee to get their money back.

The student became suspicious of the strange caller and contacted police.

Regional Police are reminding everyone the Chinese Consulate has issued an alert warning people of this type of scam.