Scam Type
Other Scam
Business Name Used
Vancouver BC Police Department
Date Reported
Aug 25, 2022
Victim Postal Code
V6G 2X7
Total Dollars Lost
0
Scam Description
I received a land line phone call, private number not displayed, from person saying he’s from Vancouver Police Department. They know of someone walking around with my bank card (didn’t say which bank) who is trying to use the card. That person was attempting a $24,000 purchase. Caller did not ask for any info other than did I still have all my bank cards; I have my cards, so I said yes to that. His spiel was that I need to phone my bank right away with this report. I should check to make sure I can see the number to phone on the back of my card. He asked me that a few times. I didn’t look but I said I could see the number.
Well, I’m not very worried about anyone trying to use “my” card for a $24,000 purchase, but since he was not asking for any info, I wondered what the payoff was.
A facebook friend explained:
The scam is, you hang up and call your bank. You hear the line ring, someone answers, you give them your info to check your accounts. Because you’ve called your bank yourself, you speak freely about personal info.
The kicker is, the scammer held your phone line. The ringing when you called out was a simulated recording. They have someone ‘answer’ pretending to be your bank. They now have all your info.
You wouldn’t get a dial tone. You’d pick up the phone and “hear a dial tone”.
They would play a recording of a dial tone, so you’d think you were hearing your dial tone. Ditto with the line ‘ringing’ after you dial. Recording.
Then someone would answer with a generic term like “Financial services customer accounts – how can I help you” – you might say, “oh is this Visa? Hi I had a call from someone claiming to be police with concerns about my card, I don’t know if it was a scam or not, so I’m calling to check my account.”
They’d reply, something like, “oh it’s good that you called, we can certainly assist you. I’ll need to start with your information…” and they’d ask for name, address, phone number, card number, passwords, etc etc etc.
