Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
November 10, 2022 - 4:57 PM
Kelowna RCMP are warning the public after an international student was scammed out of $3,500 after being threatened with deportation.
According to a Kelowna RCMP media release issued today, Nov. 10, the student received a call saying she would be deported if she did not pay $3,500 via bitcoin.
"The victim, unfamiliar with Canadian laws, completed the transaction without informing friends or family out of fear they would deport her," the release read.
The student was studying at a local post-secondary institution in Kelowna when she received the threatening call.
Kelowna RCMP are reminding the public that government agency employees will never ask for a payment to be made using cryptocurrency.
"If a payment is required, government employees do not use threats or extreme urgency like the tactics used by scammers in these types of frauds," the release said. "If the person won’t let you off the phone or makes any types of threats if the call were to end, this is fraud and should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and your local police."
Whether a person falls for a scam or not, RCMP said it's important the public report it to the RCMP as the Anti-Fraud Centre keeps track of the various types of fraud affecting Canadians.
To avoid scams the RCMP is advising non-residents that Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada does not collect money or payments by phone or prepaid credit cards or by Pay Pal or MoneyGram.
The agency would also never ask you to confirm basic personal information you already provided on a form.
Police say in some telephone scams if the caller pretends to be the police or an immigration officer and tells the person that they broke the law, has to pay money, give personal information, or they'll go to jail it's likely a scam.
The RCMP says if you receive a suspicious call, hang up immediately and call your local police if you lost money.
For more tips and information go here.
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