On September 20, 2023, a Kelowna resident reported to police a phone scam from which the callers were using the Kelowna RCMP non-emergency line. The complainant was initially contacted from telephone number 250-250-0311 in which the caller advised the complainant they had a warrant for their arrest and requested personal information to corroborate their identity. This information included full name, date of birth, address, driver’s license number and some banking information.
After the complainant determined this was a scam, they hung up the phone. Shortly after, the complainant received numerous calls back and white noise voicemails from telephone number 250-762-3300 which happens to be the Kelowna RCMP non-emergency telephone line. The calls were left unanswered and the complainant reported the matter accordingly.
“The scammer(s) are clearly using some sort of caller ID spoofing technology to impersonate the police. In some cases an officer could in fact call someone to say they have a warrant but would never ask for this type of corroborating information, especially banking info” says Cpl. Michael Gauthier i/c Media Relations Unit. “Fortunately, this person realized something was suspicious, ceased communications immediately and phoned the real police”
RCMP are reminding anyone who may have been victim to a scam attempt to contact Equifax (1-800-525-6285), Trans Union (1-800-888-4213) and report the matter to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501).