Phone scams are circulating in the Boundary
By Mona Mattei
Phishing, pharming, spoofing and spam have unfortunately all become part of daily life for the 21st century. RCMP, the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), and locals are all warning people about new scams that are popping up in the Boundary region and beyond.
A scam going around the Grand Forks area is one where they contact you saying that they are calling from Microsoft, or some company that Microsoft has contracted, explained Les Johnson of What’s up in Grand Forks website who has received two of these calls.
“They say that they have information that your computer is sending out information on the web that looks like it’s infected by a virus,” said Johnson. “They want you to make alterations to your computer that basically opens it up so they can get into it, or conversely or they get you to go to a website and download a scanner tool. That tool will find all sorts of faults on your computer. After it finds these false positives it says if you want to run a clean-up you have to pay for the software where they get your credit card information. That’s what they’re really after.”
On Apr. 1 the Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP received a call from a concerned member of the community about a telemarketing attempt from Mississauga, Ontario selling an item called "Power Saver One." The company promises to reduce power consumption in business and residential applications by 40 – 50 percent. The scammer advised that price for this product has been reduced from $500 to $198.
Fortunately, the would-be victim happened to be in the electronics industry and knew there is no such device available on the market. He subsequently researched the internet and discovered multiple warnings about this scam from other victims.
“This concerned citizen wished this matter be reported for information purposes as the scam has surfaced in our area,” said Gordon Molendyk, spokesperson for the detachment. “The warning is for everyone in the region as the scammers are targeting both business and residential customers. A resident of the Armstrong area has also been contacted by a company claiming they would come and activate this product for them at a price of $180.”
Scams are not new, but the creativity of scammers has grown exponentially. In February of this year alone Canadians reported 3,271 complaints to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre costing victims over $2.4 million. In 2010 the centre reported 41,421 complaints with $35,712,162 in losses.
The BBB is also warning people in the wake of a massive internet breach that occurred in late March. Canadian customers of Best Buy and other large companies are among the growing list whose email addresses have been exposed by a security breach, according to a notice posted by Epsilon, an email marketing provider based in Texas who collects customer data for numerous corporations. BBB warns that these email addresses may be targeted for phishing attacks.
“It’s possible that you may receive phishing email messages as a result,” says Lynda Pasacreta, BBB president and chief executive officer. “The goal of these messages is to lead consumers to believe that a request for information is coming from a legitimate company ― particularly one they’ve done business with before ― when in reality it’s an attempt to collect information for fraudulent purposes.”
Other United States based companies that are also affected by the security breach include Capital One, Barclays Bank, U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup, Walgreen Co., LL Bean Visa Card, Ritz-Carlton, Home Shopping Network, and Disney Destinations.
Molendyk added, “As always, please exercise caution when you purchase products or services over the telephone or Internet/email. Make sure you do your own research into the legitimacy of these businesses and ask questions before you provide payment or release sensitive and personal information.”
Johnson takes it one step further suggesting that reporting the fraud is critical to some resolution to the problems and that just marking them as spam doesn’t stop the problems. Fraud can be reported to the RCMP, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center, the company that is being misrepresented in the scam and even the BBB.
For more information on how to protect yourself from frauds and scams, visit: the B.C. RCMP website at and scroll to the bottom of the page under “Protecting Yourself,” the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, or even the BBB.
Definitions:
Phishing is when a fraudster sends out spam messages or draws mass audiences to a website that has been designed to look very similar to a business or website that is reputable or one you normally deal with like Paypal or your credit card company. The term phishing is a variation of the word fishing where the scammer is essentially throwing out the bait to see if they can get a fish (you) to take it. The fraudster is generally trying to get you to provide personal or financial details in order to commit identity crime, and often to reveal passwords. When the fraudster is targeting specific individuals or businesses this is called spear phishing. Phishing attempts targeting mobile devices are referred to as vishing which was derived from combining VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) with phishing. Phishing attempts using text messaging are referred to as smishing which is derived from combining SMS (Short Message Service) with phishing.
Pharming is a term used to describe when a fraudster or hacker redirects traffic from a legitimate website to a fraudulent website without the victim knowing it. The scammer then harvests the data entered by the victim, thus the play on words – farming.
Spoofing is using software or some other internet tool that allows the fraudster to mask their real identity by displaying a fake e-mail address, name or telephone number on your computer or telephone. It is meant to both hide who they really are and to trick you into thinking you are either dealing with a reputable business or person but also to give you the impression the call or message is coming from somewhere other than the actual location. Your telephone or Internet service provider have the ability to determine the true IP address or telephone number but they must be informed quickly before this information is overwritten on their database. They will usually only provide this information to law enforcement in the course of an official investigation.