Salmon Arm RCMP are urging people to be on guard for telephone scammers seeking personal information.
On April 27, a White Lake Road resident reported to police that she’d received a telephone call from a person claiming to be with Telus. During their discussion, the caller, who said his name was Jason Brown, requested the resident’s social insurance number, driver’s licence number and birth date. The resident provided some of the numbers before recognizing it as a scam and hanging up. The resident was advised to report to Service Canada due to their social insurance number possibly being compromised, said Const. Andrew Hodges in a media release.
“Salmon Arm RCMP advise using extreme caution when providing any sort of personal information over the phone,” said Hodges. “Unsolicited phone calls from anyone requesting personal information should be treated as highly suspicious, and likely a scam.”
Telus says fraudsters will make it seem they’re representing a trusted source so their targets are less likely to question them.
”Remember, TELUS and other reputable organizations (e.g. Canada Revenue Agency, financial institutions, etc.), will never ask you to provide personal, login or account information through unsolicited emails, texts or phone calls,” offered Telus.
With suspicious phone calls, Telus advised taking a moment to ask yourself the following”
• Is the caller asking for personal or sensitive information?
• Is the caller trying to create a sense of urgency and/or pressuring you to take action, suggesting something bad may happen if you do not follow their instructions?
• Does the caller say they are calling from a trusted, reputable company or organization you know would not usually treat their customers like this?
“If the answer is yes to any of these questions, the call is likely a phishing or scam attempt,” said Telus.
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