Strathcona County RCMP are warning the public of a scam involving a fraudulent telephone call claiming to originate from a financial institution to callers in the Strathcona County area.
RCMP said the phone calls appear on the call display appear to be the same number as the number on the back of a bank card or credit card and the caller is claiming to be from the residence’s financial institution advising them that their account has been compromised.
The caller is then asked to provide personal information and bank information to resolve the issue.
“These phone calls are high pressure in nature and the likely goal for the suspects is to obtain personal and banking information from the victims that are being targeted,” said a statement from RCMP.
Some safety tips from RCMP include:
- If you receive a call from someone claiming your personal information has been compromised, take note of the information from them and disconnect the call.
- Do not share any personal information with the caller, such as name, social insurance number, address, etc.
- Spoofing occurs when a caller identification (caller ID) or call display are manipulated to show trusted phone numbers. This tricks people into answering the call and believing they are speaking with a trusted source. Do not use call display as a way to authenticate who is calling. Fraudsters may use a variety of other telephone scam tactics to create anxiety so that victims respond by sending money quickly in order to fix the problem.
- If you have legitimate concerns regarding your personal information being compromised, find the government agencies phone number through a trusted source (official website) and contact the government agency directly or go into the physical location of the agency or financial institution.
- The best protection from scammers is to learn how to resist being pushed into a decision regardless of how persuasive or aggressive the scammer may be.
Anyone who believes they may have been victimized by this scam or who has given out personal or financial information in error, is advised to contact their local police service and their financial institution.
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