RCMP in Salmon Arm say they’re seeing an uptick in scams and frauds targeting the B.C. community and want to inform the public on how to avoid getting burned.
Buying and selling used items online has become increasingly popular in recent years, as many platforms allow people to do it from the comfort of their own home. Scammers are catching on to this trend, masking themselves behind a screen and pretending to be someone you can trust.
“Scammers will create a profile that looks local and friendly, and will build rapport with you, before asking you to pay ahead of having seen the item,” Salmon Arm RCMP said in a release.
“If you view the seller’s profile more closely, typically they will have joined the platform within the last year. Once you pay ahead, the seller disappears, and your money is lost.”
Police warn the public to never send money ahead of time, adding that cash is a recommended method of payment.
Salmon Arm RCMP said they are also seeing an extremely high call volume of area residents reporting fraud.
These calls are to grandparents and other loved ones, stating that one of their family members is in jail and needs bail money. These calls are coming from the 832 phone prefix, RCMP said in a press release.
“The fraudsters are pleading with people to send gift cards, offering to pick up money, give a credit card number or requests to transfer funds,” RCMP said.
These calls are a hoax, and no matter how convincing, RCMP said they are still a fraud and money should not be paid.
“The police and the court system do not take bail money over the phone,” RCMP said.
“Phone calls from people claiming to be a family member in trouble, requesting money, or asking you to purchase gift cards should also raise red flags.”
Police highly discourage giving out any personal information or payment information over the phone to unknown callers. It’s also important to remember not to click on any hyperlinks sent via text from phone numbers you don’t know. Instead, police say, you should simply delete the message and block the number.
Scammers will also build websites that mimic the real deal, but with a web address that is spelt slightly different. All it takes is for you to log into their fake site, and the scammer is able to steal your login credentials.
“If using a desktop computer, or a mobile web browser, ensure you are logging into the actual website, and not a spoof website,” RCMP said.
“You can hover your mouse over hyperlinks, before you open them, to preview the full site address and look for any minor spelling differences.”
Last year, a survey from TransUnion found that nearly half of Canadians (49 per cent) reported being targeted by a recent fraud scheme.