There are other telephone scams circulating in the Rossland area with greater frequency.
Fraud artists are trying to trick people out of personal information by posing as representatives of Telus, or other well-known companies, offering free trips or other prizes.
The fraudsters ‘spoof’ their caller IDs, using specialized Internet services to create false phone numbers to make it appear they are calling from a local number, when they are likely calling from offshore.
People who provide personal information to fraudsters could suffer identity theft or other fraud. Personal information includes names, addresses, birthdates, account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, etc.
People are being asked by the RCMP not give out personal information—simply hang up when scammers call.
If you are unsure about the legitimacy of an email or phone call and believe you may have given personal information to a scam artist and need assistance securing your Telus account, please call Telus fraud management at 1-877-567-2062.
For additional information about email and phone fraud, please visit www.telus.com/scams or the RCMP at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/index-eng.htm.
To lodge a complaint or request more information, please contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre toll-free at 1-888-495-8501 or the Competition Bureau toll-free at 1-800-348-5358.
From the Trail and District RCMP detachment
A typical scenario is a grandparent will receive a phone call from a scammer claiming to be one of his or her grandchildren.
The caller says they are in some kind of trouble and need money immediately. They claim to have been in a car accident or having trouble returning home from a foreign country or in need on bail money.
The caller will ask you questions in order to get you to volunteer information and there may be a second scammer involved claiming to be the police or a lawyer. They will ask you to send money through a wire transfer company.
Ways to protect yourself
Remember that the scammer is counting on you to act quickly to help your loves ones.
Never send money to someone you don’t know and verify the person’s identity and validity of the story before you take any steps to help.
Ask the caller questions only you and your loved one would know the answers to. Call the childs parents to verify the story.
Don’t give out personal information to the caller.
Ask yourself.” Does the caller’s story make sense?”
Report scams to your local police as well as the Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, or www.antifraudcentre.ca.
