Chatham-Kent police are warning the public about a fraud scheme after a Chatham woman was scammed for $1,850.
Police said the woman received several calls on Tuesday afternoon, including one claiming to be from Immigration Canada and claiming to be from a local police service.
It appears as though the suspect(s) were fraudulently using legitimate numbers to make these calls via a process known as ‘spoofing,’ police said.
The woman was told she had committed a crime and had two options – either admit it or contest it in court, police said.
Since she did not commit the crime, the woman chose to contest it and she followed instructions to transfer $1,850 to Thailand via Western Union to cover the court costs, police said.
She called police Tuesday night after realizing she had been a scam victim.
Police said caller ID spoofing disguises telephone numbers appearing on a caller ID display to make it appear they are coming from local or familiar numbers to trick people into answering the phone and trusting the caller.
The Chatham-Kent Police Service offers the following safety tips:
– Don’t trust your caller ID display. It may appear as a legitimate business, but in reality may be scammer.
– If you get a call from someone purporting to be from a company or government agency looking for personal information, hang up and call them back using the contact information posted on their website. This will help you verify the authenticity of their call.
– Never give out personal or financial information over the phone, especially if you did not initiate the call.
To report a fraudulent call, email or text, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
Read the original story over at Chatham Daily News.
