Durham Regional Police have arrested two people in connection with an alleged "phishing" scam that sought personal information from bank customers.

"Investigators determined a 37-year-old female had recently telephoned customers of banks pretending to be a legitimate employee," police said Friday in a news release.

They allege the accused gathered personal information such as:

  • names
  • addresses
  • birth dates
  • credit card account numbers

"The accused then contacted the bank’s call centre and accessed the credit card accounts, changed the mailing addresses and requested additional supplementary credit cards be issued to the new address," police alleged.

They allege the accused accessed 275 accounts from one bank over a six-week period.

Fraud investigators traced the activity to a Markham residence, police say.

On Thursday, police executed a search warrant at the home. They arrested a woman there. "Officers determined she had outstanding fraud-related arrest warrants held by police in Toronto, Peel Region, Montreal and Halifax," police said.

Sgt. Nancy Van Rooy of Durham Regional Police told CTV News that she's been told it's for essentially the same type of alleged identity-theft fraud.

Police also arrested a man.

Melanie Colley, 37, of Markham and Vincent Williams, 41, of Ajax face the following charges:

  • fraud over $5,000
  • possessing a credit card obtained by crime
  • unlawful possession of credit card data
  • possess identity information for a fraudulent purpose

Colley faces the following additional charges:

  • conspiracy to commit an indictable offence
  • personation to gain advantage
  • personation to avoid arrest/prosecution
  • obstructing police

Williams faces a further charge of failing to comply with a probation order.

Van Rooy said people should never give personal information to someone phoning them up and claiming to be a bank official.

"You're giving away your life over the phone," she said.

Van Rooy suggested people take a name and number, then call the bank directly. If the bank doesn't know about the call, "then it's not who called you in the first place," she said.