A 51-year-old Gibsons resident is breathing a little easier now, after an RCMP staff member helped him out of a common scam.
The resident was contacted by a man claiming to be with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), saying that he owed money to the CRA and needed to pay immediately or he would be arrested. It just so happens that the resident did owe money to the CRA, so he initially believed the scammer was an authentic CRA representative.
Following instructions from the scammer, he purchased $3,000 in prepaid Pivot Visa cards and relayed the card numbers to the scammer, believing the funds would cover the money he owed and prevent his arrest.
However, after sending the card numbers, the resident suspected it might be a scam, so he walked into the RCMP’s community policing office in Gibsons while on the phone with the scammer, who was demanding even more money.
The scammer went so far as to facilitate a conference call with someone representing themselves as a West Vancouver police officer, who also threatened arrest if more money wasn’t sent.
Fortunately the RCMP detachment clerk was aware that CRA scams are common, and recognized that this was not a legitimate call. The RCMP clerk spoke with the two scammers on the phone, identified herself as an employee of the RCMP, and told them she knew it was a scam.
The scammers demanded to know who the clerk was, and asked, “What state police are you with?” The resident then hung up on the scammers, who are apparently not from Canada, where there are no “state police.”
The clerk then read the fine print on the prepaid cards, and saw that the cards would not be activated until one hour from the time of purchase. She called a Pivot Visa manager, who confirmed no money had yet been withdrawn from the cards, and agreed to refund the full amount to the fraud victim.
“Scammers can be very convincing people,” said Const. Harrison Mohr with Sunshine Coast RCMP. “Luckily in this case, the resident realized just in time that it was a scam, and immediately turned to the RCMP for help. These scammers picked the wrong detachment clerk to mess with. She has been working for the RCMP for 18 years and knows a scam when she sees one. She not only stopped the resident from losing more money, but also helped him to get back the thousands of dollars he nearly lost. The resident hasn’t heard from the scammers since.”
It can be very challenging to track down scammers, and RCMP are not expecting any charges out of this incident. Anyone who has been scammed should report the matter to their local police. Check out the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website for more info www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
