BOW ISLAND, AB — As technology grows, so do the schemes scammers use to get your personal information.
They pop up in email inboxes and call our phones when we least expect it.
Earlier this month, Bow Island resident Pat Willan got a call on her cell phone.
“How they got my number, it’s just, I don’t understand,” she said.
Willan was relaxing at home on March 13th, watching TV, when her phone rang.
“My phone was sitting where it always sits and it went off like somebody was calling me,” she said. “I never ever use my phone to call, other than emergencies.”
Thinking it must be important, she picked up. As she went to answer it, she noticed the caller ID started with a letter and was followed by a bunch of numbers.
She wasn’t expecting to hear a threatening recording on the other end.
“It had to do with money and it said get a hold of us immediately and it had something, they said something to do with taxation fraud,” she said, remembering the recording.
“There’s no end to the different ways that people can get defrauded now, whether it’s your over the email, it’s your cell phone or your home phone,” said Sgt. Mike Fischer with the Medicine Hat Police Service.
Fischer said scammers have gotten better over the years, being able to change the phone number you see over call display.
He adds that they’re not always so easy to locate.
“It’s tough to track these people down because they’re not local. They’re out of the province, and a lot of times, out of the country,” he said.
Knowing how rarely she uses her phone for anything other than sending text messages and checking emails, Willan said the recording scared her.
The call lasted 47 seconds and included a demand for Willan to call the Ontario number back.
“I’ve gone my whole life not owing anybody anything,” she said.
“These people are very persuasive and they want to make it sound like unless you act now, something bad is going to happen,” Fischer said.
He said you always have one option when deal with a scammer.
“It’s okay to hang up your phone,” he said. “It’s okay to push delete on your email.”
“With the technology we have, I mean, it’s nice we have it but on the other hand, look at what they can do,” Willan added.
