July 27, 2021 – Local residents who receive a phone call that appears to be from London’s RCMP detachment are being warned by the Mounties that it may be a fraudster on the other end of the line.

In an advisory Friday, the RCMP says the detachment’s number has been used in recent caller ID spoofing incidents in which victims have received unsolicited calls that are coercive or threatening and claim to be from the police.

Police say that in some of the incidents, victims have been coerced into providing sensitive personal information, such as their social insurance number, or told they’re under investigation and threatened with arrest unless they transfer large amounts of money.

Caller ID spoofing is when caller ID information is altered by the caller, such as a telemarketer or scammer, to trick people into answering the phone, according to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Global News reports. | READ MORE