The West Kelowna RCMP is investigating a report of a telephone scam and the RCMP would like to warn the public about this scam.
The warning stems from a report of fraudulent telephone calls which appear to be coming from the West Kelowna RCMP Detachment. The caller poses as the Canadian Revenue Agency and informs the victims that there is a large amount of money owing on their personal taxes. The caller further states that the victims will be arrested at their home if they don’t pay the outstanding balance immediately via money transfer or credit card.
The fraudsters are using Caller ID spoofing that disguises the telephone number appearing on the caller ID display. This allows scammers to disguise their calls and trick people into answering their phones and trusting the caller.
“We want the public to be aware these types of scams are planned to create stress so that victims respond immediately in an effort to correct or fix the problem,” says Cpl. Meghan Foster of the Kelowna RCMP. “The RCMP does not work with the CRA to collect outstanding taxes.”