FORT ST. JOHN -- Fort St. John RCMP are warning about a new phone scam that has already affected multiple people.
Recently, police have received more than one tip about phone fraud that has the victims paying out large sums of money to help family members in emergency situations.
One situation involved a scammer pretending to be a lawyer who called and said that the victim's son, who they identify by name, has been in a vehicle collision with another person and that the son has been arrested. The scammer then asked for bail money and banking information was recieved.
The scam was not over, police say the scammer called back and said more money is needed for bail. This process keeps repeating until the victim thinks something isn't right.
"These scammers are deplorable because they take advantage of hard working, upstanding citizens who care deeply about their family members. Don't let their pressure tactics scare you into giving up your hard earned money." Const. Chad Neustaeter said.
In these frauds, the scammers may pose as a lawyer or even as the family member and will already have the name of the son, daughter or grandchild and appear to be credible because they don't ask for much information.
Police say a significant warning sign to look for is that the pressure is on, that the funds are needed immediately to deal with the emergency, adding urgency, often causing victims to make sudden decisions. They may even say that you shouldn't talk to anyone else about this or you don't have time to wait.
Tips provided by RCMP to avoid becoming a victim in a situation like this are:
- ask for time,
- reach out to the son, daughter, grandchild or other family members that would be able to verify the situation,
- don't feel pressured to send money immediately,
- don't provide personal or banking information.
Anyone who is a victim of any type of fraud is asked to report it to your local police and contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
