West Vancouver police are warning the public that calls from “police officers” claiming to warn people that their credit card information has been compromised are actually a scam in the making.
The real police issued an alert after receiving about 40 reports from people over just a few days who said they’d been called by someone falsely claiming to be a “Constable Forrest” of the West Vancouver Police.
The suspected scam artist has been providing a fake badge and file number, then asking residents to provide personal information, said Const. Jeff Palmer, spokesman for the West Vancouver Police Department.
Callers added the scam calls are falsely made to appear on call display as though they originate from the West Vancouver Police non-emergency number.
So far, police don’t have any reports of anyone handing over money to the scammers, said Palmer, adding most of the callers have hung up. But “that very typically would be the next step,” he added. Often people targeted are encouraged to transfer funds to another account for “safekeeping” and their money is lost.
Palmer said this type of scam involving unsolicited calls falsely reporting problems with a person’s bank or credit card from a con artist posing as either a bank investigator or police officer is a common fraud scheme. He added people should also be cautious about trusting info that comes up in their phone’s call display, as spoofing technology is widely available.
Palmer said anyone receiving a similar call should hang up without giving out any information and consider calling the bank or police directly from a different phone line or go to the bank in person to clarify any concern.
Banks or financial institutions will never advise someone to transfer funds to external accounts for security reasons, he added.
