Oceanside RCMP warns of jewelry theft and AI‑generated online scams on Vancouver Island

In early June 2026, the Oceanside division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued public warnings after a series of fraud incidents on Vancouver Island. In Parksville, a man in a black Audi SUV and a female passenger approached pedestrians, offering jewelry at a deep discount; the ruse was used either to sell counterfeit pieces or to replace victims' real items with fakes. The same pair later succeeded in stealing a necklace in Nanaimo by slipping a fake necklace onto a passerby and removing the genuine one. Police described the suspects as larger‑bodied, appearing East Indian or Syrian.

Separately, a Parksville‑Qualicum Beach resident lost $40,000 after following an artificial‑intelligence‑generated political advertisement that promoted a bogus cryptocurrency venture. In the same week, other scams were reported, including a phishing email purporting to be from a government agency and a contractor fraud. Between May 4 and May 10 the RCMP logged 277 complaints, ranging from theft of bicycles and vehicle mirrors to break‑ins and vandalism. Officers advise residents to ignore unsolicited offers of jewelry, to be wary of online ads that seem too good to be true, and to report incidents to the non‑emergency number 250‑248‑6111.