One of the latest scams going on in Brockville is “phone spoofing”. Scammers use the internet to disguise or “spoof” their caller ID and are able to display a legitimate phone number and these are showing up as local calls from the Brockville area and quite often from the individual’s own phone number.
By doing this the fraudsters are trying to gain the trust of the individual thus making them pick up the phone. It is also used to hide their true identity and to keep you from being able to call them back.
If a number appears on your phone’s caller ID display, you shouldn’t assume you know where the call is being made from or who is making it.
We are also seeing an increase in bogus calls from scammers claiming to be the Canada Revenue Service.
Victims are told that they owe back taxes and are advised to go to an online webpage. If they refuse to do so, the scammers tell them they will be arrested if the debt isn’t paid immediately.
There are different variations of all these scams and it could involve being asked to make payment with prepaid credit cards or a money transfer service.
In most cases, the caller has had some of the victim’s personal information, including their name, address and even bank account details.
Reminder to all – NEVER give out personal information over the phone. If you aren’t sure if it is legitimate, hang up and contact the organization directly yourself and NOT by using the number they supply.