Here’s a new twist on those telephone scams.
On Monday, someone called North Bay Police to report a call by an unknown man who said he worked for a bank that wanted to provide him with a refund from a company that had gone out of business. The closed company, the scammer said, was refunding its customers for orders they could no longer fulfill.
The fraudster then told the victim to give him remote access to his computer, which he did.
He was then asked to log onto his bank account online, which he also did.
The complainant then noticed money being transferred from one of his accounts to another. The fraudster then told the complainant that a portion of that transfer was his refund but that the complainant was required to send the balance to a foreign company in order to secure the refund.
Luckily, the victim did not send funds but contacted his bank immediately.
Tips on how not to fall victim to telephone scams
Here are suggestions that should help ensure that you do not fall victim to the tactics of fraudulent telephone scams:
- DO NOT believe that everyone calling with an exciting promotion, an investment opportunity, a prize, a refund or a reward is trustworthy, especially if you do not know the caller or are not expecting a call from the company the caller claims to represent.
- DO NOT be fooled by call display. Often scammers will use caller ID "spoofing" to deliberately falsify the call display in order to disguise their true identity and to fool you into believing they are from a reputable company.
- DO NOT give unknown callers remote access to your computer.
- DO NOT be afraid to request further documentation from the caller so you can verify the validity of the company.
- DO NOT disclose information about your finances, bank accounts or credit cards (not even the credit card expiry date).
Simply hang up and contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) to report the fraud.
Call Toll Free 1-888-495-8501 Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. or visit www.antifraudcentre.ca
