’Tis the season for eggnog, colourful lights and decorations, festivities as well as goodwill.
And, unfortunately, ’tis also the season for scam artists.
Last week, a young Ontario woman was reportedly taken to the cleaners for her meagre life savings, in what the RCMP have called the top identity fraud scam in the country.
According to the claim, a con artist posing as a cop named Steve Rogers — in and of itself a red flag, as this moniker will be recognized as Captain America’s alter ego by Marvel fans — duped the victim into believing her social insurance number had been compromised.
Although lacking credibility — the victim even attempted to question the claims — the caller was prepared with a second line set up to resemble the detachment’s phone number, in what authorities call being “spoofed.”
She was intimidated by what she described as a terrifying ordeal after being led to believe a car rented in her name was found abandoned with blood residue on the seats along with several kilos of cocaine.
The con artist, who even conjured up a bogus badge number and a fictitious file number, then told her that her name and SIN were tangled up in a drug and money-laundering investigation.
The next glaring red flag, if a call from Cap himself wasn’t enough, should have been the caller’s directive to buy gift cards — and to conveniently provide him with all of the numbers and codes — to supposedly protect her savings.
Over the span of more than four hours, she apparently followed directions to not only buy gift cards, but also even call her bank to request a credit limit increase to buy more cards.
These are more red flags that should be triggering blaring alarm bells.
To be fair and non-judgmental, seeing an RCMP detachment’s number appear on call display would probably elicit some degree of anxiety and concern in just about anyone.
But if police have such serious matters to address, it won’t be over the phone.
If the caller persists, request to have an officer dispatched to your home to discuss the alleged claims in person.
Or just drop by the department and say hi.
Police officers are people too, and members are typically approachable as well as receptive to such concerns, and would certainly be able to help ascertain the veracity, or rather lack thereof, of such claims.
Simon Ducatel is the editor of the Sundre Riound Up.
