Fraudulent phone calls from officials posing as Canadian Revenue Agency employees are all too common to BC residents.
Recently, a scam resurfaced in parts of Metro Vancouver and the Okanagan where fraudsters pressure their victims into making payments on fake tax debts with threats of being arrested.
Last Friday, a police officer in Victoria put on a masterclass on how to deal with suspicious calls and the video is now being circulated by authorities.
Cst. Matt Rutherford took the call from a fraudster who claimed he was calling from “Service Canada” and quickly shut him down with two simple questions.
Watch as a #CRAScammer calls Cst. Rutherford... on his phone. Note that Cst. Rutherford doesn’t give his name, but politely asks questions to clearly determine it’s a fraud. Frustrated, the scammer hangs up. #yyj #fraud pic.twitter.com/UnSvjRmKOh
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) November 15, 2019
“Hello, just wondering what’s happening,” replies Rutherford.
The scammer then asks for the officer’s name and Rutherford tells him, “You already have my name.”
Befuddled, the caller then says he needs Rutherford’s name for “confirmation.”
Rutherford then simply presses him further, replying “And sorry, who are you with?”
The caller goes silent and then hangs up.
Police request that any caller IDs suspected of fraudulently impersonating authorities be reported to RCMP.
