After another local was bilked out of $1,200 in a telephone scam, Trail police are sounding the alarms on the reality of fraud in today’s world.
This most recent case unfolded on Monday after a report was called into the Trail and Greater District RCMP detachment.
The victim received a telephone call by a suspect claiming to represent “Service Canada.”
The caller told the victim that she had outstanding debts on her account.
The victim purchased $1,200 in Google Play gift cards and provided the unique serial numbers on the gift cards to the suspect over the phone.
“This resulted in the victim losing her $1,200,” Sgt. Mike Wicentowich confirmed in a Sept. 9 news brief.
This report, however, was the first of two that came into the detachment on Monday.
“The second victim was contacted by a suspect representing ‘Revenue Services of British Columbia’ who claimed that the victim had issues her account,” Wicentowich explained.
The woman was provided with the telephone number of 1-833-866-9714 to call.
“Instead, the second victim conducted her due diligence by checking her account independently and contacted the actual Revenue Service of British Columbia office,” he said. “Who confirmed that this was a phone scam.”
The Trail RCMP is reminding people to not provide any financial information over the phone as institutions do not operate in this manner.
Another fraud alert surfaced at the Trail RCMP last Friday, but this one arrived in town on four wheels.
On Sept. 6, at noon, the detachment received the complaint of an attempted fraud on a 56-year-old Warfield resident.
The complainant was approached by an unknown person driving an older model black Subaru with Alberta licence plates who offered to sell a gold chain and ring to him.
“The complainant was aware of this most recent scam where a suspect pretends to be stranded while travelling and offers to sell ‘gold jewellery’ to an unsuspecting victim at a discounted price,” Wicentowich said.
“The victim pays the suspect then finds out the jewellery is worthless when they have it appraised.”
Anyone with information about this vehicle or suspect, is encouraged to call contact the detachment at 250.364.2566.
Previous: Trail senior cheated out of $2,000
These three cases follow a report from May wherein a Trail senior was swindled out of $2,000 in a phone scam. The victim was contacted by phone from a person claiming to be from Visa.
The elderly male then bought $2,000 worth of Google Play Cards from a local business and provided the codes on the back of the cards to the caller, resulting in his financial loss.
The public can call and speak to a police officer if they are unsure about who is calling them, and to ask for advice on how to proceed if they think they are a subject of a fraud or scam.
Additional resources on how to effectively deal with frauds and scams are available at Trail and Greater District RCMP office on Laburnum Drive.
“The Little Black Book of Scams” and “Fraud Awareness” can be picked up at the detachment’s front counter Monday to Friday during business hours, which are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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