P.E.I. police say phone scams, fraud complaints on the rise

Both RCMP and Charlottetown police say they're seeing an increase in fraud and telephone scam complaints.

RCMP say on averagethey're getting one or two reports a day, while Charlottetown police describeit as a slight increase.

RCMP Staff-Sgt. Kevin Bailliesaid some casesinvolve a fraudster collecting benefits in someone else's name.

He said callers can trick people into giving their personalinformation such as bank account number, social insurance numberor date of birth, andthat makes it easy for the callerto apply for benefits.

There have been cases on P.E.I. involving refunds from the Canada Revenue Agency, employment insuranceclaims and CERB benefits, he said.

"If someone does apply and changes your address and gives your personal information, they may be receiving these benefits and you're not even aware of it," saidBaillie.

"We've seen it unfortunately, many occurrences where people have fallen prey, sentthousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to fraudsters."

Baillie said when it comes to scams involving government benefits,if people don't check their online accounts regularly, the misdirection of funds can go unnoticed for months or even years.

"A lot people don't go into their online CRA account unless it's tax time," he said.

Tax time popular withscammers

Deputy ChiefBrad MacConnell said Charlottetown police typically see an increase in phone scamsaround tax season.

Hesaid the calls usually involve pressure tactics, such asthreatening arrest or deportation.

"If someone calls, you know, with those type of pressure tactics just simply hang up on them," said MacConnell.

"Don't be scared to say 'no.'"

MacConnell said if the caller asks for payment in gift cards, bitcoin, or prepaid cards, "that should be a big red flag."

If you are scammed, he said youcan report itto police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre via their website or by calling 1-888-495-8501.

Police saidin many scam cases charges are not laid and it's difficult to recover the stolen money as scammers are often based in other countries.

"Very few of these seem to originate in Prince Edward Island," Baillie said. "Probably in over 99 per cent of the cases the money is not recovered," hesaid.

"As long as the fraudstersare making some money from these scams they're going to continue doing it," he said.

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