Scammers call people and pose as representatives of credit card companies, financial institutions, or fraud prevention services, explains the RCMP from Prince Edward Island.

Criminals ask their victims to contact their bank to fix a problem. Sometimes they even ask them to call the phone number on the back of their credit card.

The victim then hangs up the phone, believing that the communication has been interrupted, and indicates this RCMP.

The victim thinks they’ve hung up, but doesn’t realize that the call wasn’t dropped and the scammer is still listeningemphasizes the RCMP in a press release.

Scammers can play a sound that trick people into thinking another call has taken place. They then pose as representatives of the victim’s financial institution to gather information.

Ways to avoid this scam

There RCMP gives people the following advice to avoid falling for this scam:

• Never give out personal information such as the name of your financial institution when making an incoming call;
• Hang up and wait at least a minute before making a new call, effectively cutting off the initial communication.
• If possible, make the next call on a different line.

In Prince Edward Island we regularly receive complaints from people whose bank accounts have been compromised and the victim has no idea how this happenedsays the policeman Gavin Moorequoted in the press release.

Gavin Moore reminds users not to allow anyone who calls them access to their computer.

He advises anyone who thinks they have been scammed to contact the local police department.