Victoria Police catch phone scammer in the act
Phone scams are running rampant for Canadians at the moment, and one unfortunate scammer happened to connect with a police officer.
Constable Rutherford of the Victoria Police is shown in a video shared by the force on Twitter, getting asked questions like what his name is, and asking some questions back to a very unhelpful caller.
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
The video appears to begin midway through the conversation.
“Service Canada, how can I help you?” asks the caller.
“Hello, just wondering what’s happening,” replies Cst. Rutherford.
“May I have your name from which I [inaudible] that call,” the caller asks.
“You already have my name.”
“Yeah I have, but for the confirmation that I’m talking to the right person [inaudible].”
“And sorry, who are you with?”
[caller disconnects]
In the comments on the video post, many Twitter users share their own frustrations with the recent influx of phone call scams, estimating anywhere between five and 20 phone calls a week from a variety of numbers.
I had no less than 5 phone calls today, all from different numbers. That brings the total this week alone to almost 20 phone calls that I've received from these jerks who just keep trying to scam me. Thank you for at least wasting some of their time for me!
— Rick (Matricks) (@Rick_Evans_) November 16, 2019
We need to spend more time advocating for our elderly population in Victoria. So many seniors fall victim to these thieves. As a Nurse working in retirement homes...you wouldn't believe how these residents are targets. Continue your good work @vicpdcanada
— NurseJen (@JenParkinsonVic) November 16, 2019
I get these calls frequently. One time I got talking to one of them and told him that he was scamming innocent people and if he had any guilt. Can’t believe people get caught to these scams.
— dshu (@dshu) November 17, 2019
Many other Canadians are taking to Twitter to complain about the calls they’re receiving, too.
Is there a point to having a phone anymore? It's all scam calls.
— Robert Fulton (@robbyfulton) November 18, 2019
It's only 11:30am and I've already had 3 scam spam calls to my cell phone.
(or maybe the government really has issued a warrant for my arrest that gets served via robocall)
Is there nothing you can do to save us, @CRTCeng?!?!? pic.twitter.com/eoDoet6Wlq— Sheldon Levine (@40deuce) November 15, 2019
I've gotten scam calls 3 times today from the robotic machinations of our department of justice, I guess the correct thing to do is to immediately give them my social insurance number right right
— Mii Swordfighter PJ (@LiterallyNoodle) November 14, 2019
I have now received 6 phone calls since 9:30 am for the same CRA scam, from different phone numbers asking for my SIN card info.
— Hey Lina Girl~✨🎶💕 (@chibi_lina) November 13, 2019
READ MORE: What should be done to stop scam phone calls?
Canadians are being warned by government agencies not to give out any personal information over the phone, and have shared several examples of the scripts used by these scammers to try and catch victims. If you receive a fraudulent call, you can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre over the phone at 1-888-495-8501 or through the online reporting system.
