The West Vancouver Police Department (WVPD) is warning the public about people who are spoofing its phone number to place scam calls.
In an advisory, the WVPD says scammers are placing calls through what appears to be the department’s non-emergency line and pretending to be police officers. Notably, these impersonators have been calling people as far away as Ontario, so it’s not just Vancouverites who are being targeted. Once on the phone, the “officer” will provide a fake name and badge number before asking call recipients to download an app onto their phone.
The WVPD notes that it will “never” call from a non-emergency line or ask you to download an app or provide money transfers, bitcoin or bail money. It also requests that you don’t call back the spoofed number because this can hold up the real non-emergency line from those who need assistance.
The WVPD says those who have received these fraudulent calls can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or toll-free at 1-888-495-8501. You can also visit the WVPD website to file an online report or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if you have more information about this or other scams.
These sorts of tips are good to know in general, especially during tax season in a couple of months when swaths of scammers will pretend to be CRA. To that point, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it received over 40,000 reports of fraud between January and November last year alone, leading to over $500 million being lost. Be careful out there, everyone!
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: West Vancouver Police Department
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