Beware the Family Emergency Scam
Prince George, B.C.- The Family Emergency Scam is sweeping the province.
This scam has fraudsters, who claim to be a family member or a close friend of a family member , advising the potential victim about an urgent situation that requires immediate funds.
Common themes have been that the family member was arrested or got into an accident while traveling abroad and money is needed to cover bail or hospital expenses.
Since 2009, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received 17,132 complaints about emergency scams. Over the years, the victims have paid out more than $24 million dollars to the fraudsters, making the average loss per victim, just over the $3,700 dollar mark.
There are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself:
- Confirm with other relatives the whereabouts of the family member or friend.
- Police, Judges or legal entities will never request that money be sent through money service business such as Western Union, MoneyGram.
- Never voluntarily give out family members names or information to unknown callers
- Always question urgent requests for money
You can find out more by visiting the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre website.
Comments
Con artists suck.
People don’t be stupid it is that easy. …
simple – if you don’t know the number calling and have an answering machine then let the machine take the call – you can then look up the phone number on a reverse phone lookup site and make your decision then as to whether or not it seems legit
Another scam going around is the free car or motorbike just pay the ‘shipping’
They tried this on me on Friday. I got a call from someone purporting to be my nephew saying that he was in jail in Vancouver on a DUI and that his lawyer had made a deal where he would be released without charge if he paid damages for the accident. Then I got a call from the guy pretending to be his lawyer, who wanted me to transfer funds to a woman he claimed to be an insurance broker. Among the clues to the scam: (a) my “nephew” wasn’t aware that he lives in the States; (b) I couldn’t find the “insurance broker” on the net; (c) the “lawyer”, who used a real name, claimed not to be at the address listed in the Law Society directory and not to have his initials; (d) the police/Crown here don’t make that kind of deal. The clincher was that I was able to contact my nephew and he was not in Vancouver.
Also, the lawyer’s phone number was blocked. Legitimate lawyers do not generally block their phone numbers.
Why do you spend so much time on the Phone talking to Strangers.
Rule #1 hang up on Telemarketers, Surveys and anyone you don’t know including calls from Visa ,Bank,Police and whoever they claim to be , buy an Answering Unit and delete all the Stuff! Look up your Bank and Visa Phone numbers and call back, never call the Number they provide!
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