A Sicamous senior is out thousands of dollars after being targeted in phone scam.
On Feb. 7, Sicamous RCMP received a call from the senior stating she had been the victim of a scam stemming from an unsolicited call from a man claiming to offer cheap, high speed Internet.
The caller claimed to represent a major Internet provider and offered to upgrade the senior's service at no charge. Once she agreed to the offer, the man asked for access to her online banking, claiming to have credited the victim's account in error.
"The man then told the victim that she had to return the funds that the company had placed in her account in error," Sgt. Murray McNeil said in a media release. "The senior eventually agreed to pay the alleged overpayment by the company which resulted which resulted in a loss of several thousands of dollars."
McNeil said this scam is an example of a common fraud where a caller convinces the victim to agree to a purchase and are then told that an overpayment has been made to their account.
"Police would like to remind the public that reputable companies would not request a customer to pay them after an overpayment of funds," McNeil said. "The company would simply reverse an overpayment to the customer's account."
He added that neither would a reputable company ask for remote access to a customer computer to access the account, as happened in this scam.
The RCMP determined the phone calls to the victim originated overseas and from several area codes in the western U.S. They advise anyone who receives a similar call to hang up and contact the company directly if interested in the services being offered.
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