Credit card scammers and other rip-off artists are targeting Coquitlam seniors but one sharp-thinking woman put a stop to one scheme and she wants to warn others.
Stephanie, who did not want to use her last name for security reasons, said she was nearly hoodwinked into giving out her credit card information when she was called Dec. 17 and was told there was a "problem" with an unauthorized expense.
The phone number appeared to be from Kentucky and the caller said her credit card had been compromised that morning for the sum of $1,000.
He first said the problem was with her Visa but when she informed him she used MasterCard he continued to bluster.
"Have you got your card in front of you?" Stephanie said the man asked. She went to retrieve her card and then thought better of giving him the card number.
"I said I'm going to phone MasterCard and they hung up."
She did follow up with MasterCard and was told there was no problem, which was a relief, but then Stephanie began to worry about others who might be convinced to give out their personal information as the man was pushy and aggressive.
After calling the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the Coquitlam RCMP, Stephanie decided to phone the Tri-City News to spread the word that scammers are targeting local seniors.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jamie Chung congratulated Stephanie for taking action and said she did the right thing by not giving out her card information.
Although the detachment hasn't been seeing a lot of credit card scams of late, the issue is ongoing and people need to be careful with their financial information, Chung said.
"By being not afraid and not giving the caller any information, she did the right thing. She also did the right thing by telling the media about it and trying to call the police about it so everyone is aware of what's going on," Chung said, adding: "This is a very good example of what we have been trying to get people to do."
The police have also been getting complaints about scammers pretending to be from The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and accusing people of owing taxes or other problems.
Chung said these these calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft.
Police first started seeing the scam two years ago; callers work from boiler rooms and randomly phone people from purchased calling lists.
They tell their victims they’re from the CRA and money is owed in unpaid taxes.
"The caller sounds very threatening, threatening with jail time," Chung said, and the scam victim is told to send payment through a money transfer service, such as Western Union.
The CRA or the RCMP would never call people about this kind of thing, Chung said, and he warns people to beware of these kinds of scams.
To report a scam or a fraud, visit here.
