Craik RCMP is warning area residents about a phone scam that appears to target seniors, with the callers becoming aggressive if the victims don’t co-operate with the demands.
Officers received complaints recently about these phone scams, where the scam artists call seniors and tell them they have won money and need to send a cheque to an address to cover the taxes and accounting fees, according to text messages from Craik RCMP. The caller uses a false name such as David Myers; he starts off polite and attempts to convince the potential victims that they don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.
The scam artist will use a 1-875 number that originates in Jamaica before it switches to a 1-306 computer-generated Saskatchewan number for future calls. The caller becomes aggressive and even threatens violence if the victims do not co-operate.
In the text message, Craik RCMP reminded residents to not give out personal information, banking information, social insurance number (SIN), address or anything else. Anyone who receives these calls should hang up and call the police or the RCMP at 310-RCMP.
While these scams have been going on for years, officers began hearing of this particular one in December, Const. David Embree told the Moose Jaw Express. This type of phone scam seems to be happening more frequently in the Craik area than in past years.
“I have investigated a few of these scams, for sure … . I can’t say why (it happens),” he said, before putting forward the theory that most seniors are home during the day while other family members are at work, leaving these older residents vulnerable.
The only way Craik RCMP knows if someone falls for this scam is if it’s reported to them, Embree continued. However, not everyone is willing to call police to say they have been scammed.
“We have helped a few people who have fallen victim to it,” he added. “The biggest thing is to prevent it right from the start. Let (police) know it happened. Don’t hand out your information.”
Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) has received similar complaints of scammers targeting seniors and has even seen a spike in overall scam calls, said Staff Sgt. Randy Jesse, media relations officer for the MJPS. He pointed out scams occur all the time; they are organized and professional in how they target people.
“People shouldn’t be embarrassed to be a victim of one and certainly should be wary not to become a victim of one,” he said.
There are many scams out there, but the most popular one involves the Canadian Revenue Agency. What police have seen is a change in how that scam is communicated. Scammers are now sending out text messages and asking recipients to respond to them.
The best way residents can protect themselves is to be alert and wary of who is calling and remember that these people may not be legitimate, said Jesse. He pointed out no one should ever pressure you on the telephone, make demands of you or threaten police action. The best thing to do is simply hang up.
For seniors specifically, they should reach out to family members who they trust and run the scenario by them. They should then take advice from those trusted relatives.
“Take advice from (the police as well),” Jesse added. “Give us a call if you have a call is not on the up and up. We’ll give you some assistance.”
The Moose Jaw Police Service can be reached at 306-694-7600.
