Police warn about resurging scams
VERNON – If they weren't con artists, thieves and frauds, you might be impressed with their ingenuity but police in the North Okanagan are definitely not impressed.
Spokesperson Gord Molendyk says local RCMP detachments had more than 30 calls about two different scams operating by phone and email in the area. One is the Revenue Canada scam that looks like this: You get an email from Revenue Canada advising that the government owes you a bigger tax return. Just give them your banking information and it's yours. Of course, it's too good to be true — it's not Revenue Canada and the scammers will clean out your bank account for you. Revenue Canada does not do this over the phone. Go here for more information.
Anyone who receives a suspicious communication should immediately report it to info@antifraudcentre.ca or to the institution that the communication appears to be from, Molendyk says.
The other scam is a variation involving B.C. Hydro, only this time it's over the phone and they want to convince you that you owe money. They call saying your power will be cut off in 45 minutes if you do not send money.
A B.C. Hydro release says they can get pretty elaborate, even suggesting you purchase a cash gift card and relay the serial number on the back of the card.
The Crown corporation says that should raise a red flag — they just wouldn't take that kind of information over the phone and nor does it take cash gift cards. It also says account holders would get plenty of notice before they took extreme action of removing the service.
While this warning was released in Vernon, both these scams are prevalent across the province and is worth noting everywhere. Just like the next scam will be.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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5 responses
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The emailinfo@antifraudcentre.ca doesn’t seem to work. I emailed it in regards to a letter my mom received and it bounced back at me.
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The CRA scam has been present for years. CRA does not email you any information. The ONLY email you will receive is an email letting you know you have a message that is viewable in My Account on the CRA website, a service that taxpayers will register for themselves. Many people are receiving the latter email and because of scam warnings are not going to My Account to view the information. New this filing season, tax software and third party filers asked taxpayers for their email addresses. This results in the Notice of Assessment no longer being issued to them by mail, instead being view able only in My Account. Some people unaware of this process, believe they have received a scam email, because they did not register for My Account. All they have to do is complete registration and they will be able to see the information.
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a third scam is with netflix they tell you your credit card has expired and you need to put in the credit card number with the code on the back as welll as your social insurance numberthey do not need your social insurance numberif you go to the netflix site you can check your account do not use thier link in your email.
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