Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
October 17, 2019 - 11:59 AM
If you get a call from Service Canada asking for Bitcoin and threatening deportation, hang up. It's a scam.
Mounties have received several complaints of a Service Canada scam targeting Kelowna residents and are warning the public to take precautions in order to protect their personal and financial information.
These scams are specifically targeted at individuals who are immigrants to Canada and begin with a cold-call from the scammer fraudulently claiming to be from Service Canada. The scammer claims a person's Social Insurance Number has been compromised and they must pay thousands of dollars in the form of Bitcoin, or face being arrested and deported.
“This recent scam is concerning as the caller ID number shown is the phone number to the Kelowna RCMP Detachment,” Const. Lesley Smith of the Kelowna RCMP said in a press release.
“We are asking the public that should they receive a call from someone identifying themselves as a Service Canada employee and they demand money, to hang up the phone. Service Canada will not call you and demand money and will not arrest you or have the powers of deportation.”
Do not send anyone money or Bitcoin as your money will be untraceable and therefore unable to be retrieved.
“You do not need to call your local police if you have only received a scam phone call. We ask that you call your local police only if you have been victimized by the scam,” Smith said.
For more information on phishing and other frauds and scams, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website here.
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