A Burns Lake woman was the victim of a telephone scam, claiming she was tricked into giving up personal information.
The woman told Lakes District News that the incident began when she phoned Telus to report a problem with billing, and was told they would call back when a representative was able to assist her. Shortly after, she received a phone call from someone claiming to be a Telus agent, telling her that they were returning her initial call.
The person on the phone started by saying they couldn’t see any issue with her billing, and preceded to go into a sales pitch, asking the woman if she was interested in a new package that would amalgamate all her devices for a cost of $20.
The women initially complied, and was asked for several items of personal information including her email address, personal address, drivers license number, and credit card information. The woman said to Lakes District News that at that moment, she received another call from Telus. When she picked up, the agent said that they were returning her initial call. It was at that moment that she became suspicious that she had been tricked.
The woman explained to the agent that someone had already returned her initial call, and after 30 minutes the of the agent double and triple checking, she was told that there was no record of a previous call in the Telus system. The woman then immediately cancelled her credit card and went to Village Insurance to make an inquiry if she had to change her drivers license number.
After that, she went to the RCMP local detachment to report the incident to police, who said they would do their best to investigate.
If you receive a suspicious call asking for personal information, hang up and report it to authorities, as it may be a telephone scam.
