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Police say phone scammer poses as RCMP officer

Nelson Daily Staff
By Nelson Daily Staff
October 3rd, 2019

Fraudsters are willing to try anything to deceive the public out of their hard-earned cash.

Case in point, Wednesday, after a local woman received a fraudulent call from a number appearing as the Nelson RCMP on the call display said RCMP in a media release Thursday.

RCMP said fraudsters are using Caller ID spoofing, which the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre describes as disguising telephone numbers on a caller ID display.

Police said this popular tool allows scammers to disguise their calls, as the call will appear to be coming from local or familiar numbers to trick people into answering the phone and trusting the caller.

In this case, the number that appeared on the call display was the non- emergency number for the Nelson area RCMP.

“Members of the RCMP will never contact individuals for the purpose of collecting fines or taxes,” RCMP said in the release.

“These scammers are targeting people with the intent to scare them into complying with their demands.”

RCMP said different tactics designed to create anxiety are then utilized by the fraudsters to scam money from individuals over the phone.

Anyone who receives a call from someone alleging to be a police officer collecting fines or taxes should hang up immediately and contact their local police, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (Toll free 1-888-495-8501).

Categories: Crime

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