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September 21, 2023 - 3:34 PM
Kelowna RCMP are warning people to be aware of scam in which the fraudsters spoof the detachment's phone number.
On Sept. 20, a Kelowna resident was contacted by a number that matched the RCMP non-emergency line, 250-250-0311.
The caller told the Kelowna resident that police had a warrant for their arrest. They then requested personal information to corroborate their resident’s identity. This information included their full name, date of birth, address, driver’s license number and some banking information.
The resident was rightfully suspicious and determined the call to be a scam. They hung up the phone, only to be bombarded by numerous calls back and white noise voicemails from the same telephone number.
The calls were left unanswered and the person reported the matter to Kelowna RCMP.
“The scammers are clearly using some sort of caller ID spoofing technology to impersonate the police," Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Michael Gauthier said in the release. "In some cases, an officer could in fact call someone to say they have a warrant but would never ask for this type of corroborating information, especially banking info."
"Fortunately, this person realized something was suspicious, ceased communications immediately and phoned the real police.”
RCMP are asking for anyone who may have been victim to a scam attempt to contact Equifax at 1-800-525-6285, Trans Union at1-800-888-4213 and report the matter to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
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