Vancouver police are receiving reports that suspected fraudsters are claiming to be police officers when phoning residents seeking personal information.
As well, they say, the culprit or culprits have managed to “spoof” the department’s non-emergency line of 604-717-3321 on Caller ID so their intended victims really believe it’s a police officer.
“It’s our real non-emergency line (that’s showing up on Caller ID),” said Const. Brian Montague on Friday. “It shows our phone number, not theirs. It’s not difficult to spoof a line.
“The various types of scams we see are only limited to the imagination of the fraudster. The public are reminded to be careful of unsolicited phone calls and that police will not call you at home to ask for personal information or money.”
Montague said that over the past week, they received several complaints from residents about suspicious calls, with the caller described in all incidents as unprofessional and having a South Asian accent. He identifies himself as a police officer and asks to speak with individuals living in the home. In some cases, the caller appears to know the names of some of the residents.
Police believe it’s occurring in other jurisdictions as well, and that their spoofed phone number displayed on the caller ID may originate from a call centre in Central India. At this time, it’s not clear what type of personal information the caller is after.
Police said the public should be cautious about giving any personal or financial information over the phone and that anyone who receives a suspicious call should hang up.
People who have been victimized or suffered a financial loss related to the calls are asked to report the incident to their local police department.
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