The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has recently issued a warning to immigrants about an ongoing scam via phone.
According to the CBC News, RCMP has received several reports about scammers pretending to be immigration officials and demanding additional fees as well as threatening the children of victims.
A woman from Toronto almost fell victim into the scam as she received a call from an “immigration official” demanding a fee of $2,500 as a fine.
How to Spot A Phone Call Scammer
RCMP has gathered information from victims and have offered the public with several ways for them to identify a phone call scammer.
Again, the fraudster will pretend to be a Canadian immigration official. For the most part, they target newcomers to the country. They usually begin by telling the would-be victims that something has been changed with their immigration fees and they would have to pay additional fees.
Next, the caller would then start asking for personal information such as the immigrant’s full name, address, occupation, number of people in the home, and even passport number.
In some instances, a scammer would claim that the victim did not inform immigration about the nature of his or her work and will require that person to pay $12,000 which will be sent via services such as Western Union or MoneyGram.
Once a victim starts questioning the claim, the scammer usually gets irritated and will begin issuing threats in an aggressive tone. The caller would threaten the victim with being arrested, deported, or being separated from their children.
What To Do If A Scammer Calls You
RCMP said that the best thing to do if you receive such a suspicious call is, of course, to report it with the police.
If the scammer’s number appears on the call display, take note of it along with the location of the caller. This would make it easier for the police to track the culprits down.
People could also look up the real number of the government agency and call them up to check if the situation is legitimate or not.
source: cbcnews