Organizers of the Noon's Creek Fingerling Festival say that someone has been fraudulently soliciting donations over the phone for their event and is warning the public to be aware.
Dave Bennie, vice-president of the Port Moody Ecological Society, said his organization has never asked for financial support from people over the phone. He said he heard about the fraud attempt from a local business, who received a suspicious phone call last week.
"A friend of mine got a phone call and said it was kind of weird," Bennie told the Tri-City News. "[The RCMP] has posted it on their website and their fraud division is looking into it."
The fraudster claimed to need money in order to bus kids in need to the Fingerling Festival in Port Moody and Earthfest, an event held in Burnaby that is put on by the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C.
In a press release the Coquitlam RCMP said that people should always be cautious when being asked to provide credit card of banking information or to donate money to unknown, unsolicited sources over the telephone or by email.
Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call the Coquitlam RCMP's non-emergency reporting line at 604-945-1550. Anyone wishing to provide information anonymously can contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.solvecrime.ca.
The Fingerling Festival is an annual event put on at the Noon's Creek Salmon Hatchery in Port Moody. Each year the organizers release more than 40,000 chum salmon into the stream as part of their day-long festival, which mixes environmental education and fun.
To find out more about the event, which is held at the Port Moody Recreation Centre on May 7, go to www.noonscreek.org.
