Police in Winnipeg and Brandon are issuing scam warnings after receiving an increased number of telephone scam reports.
Police say that Manitoban’s are receiving robocalls that tell them their social insurance number has been compromised. The recording tells them to press a button on their phone or to call back immediately to avoid arrest.
Often times these calls come from spoofed numbers that appear to be legitimate government or police agencies.
When callers connect with the fraudsters they are pressured to provide personal information such as their social insurance number and are told to make a payment to avoid arrest using gift cards or bitcoins.
If you receive a call that threatens arrest or demands payment hang up. These are scammers trying to get your personal information. Often they will become very aggressive on the phone and make threats that police are on the way to arrest you.
Police say the best way to handle these types of calls is to hang up immediately.
Never give out personal information over the phone when you receive an unsolicited phone call including SIN numbers, passwords, account numbers or other information that can identify you.
Police agencies will never ask you for this information over the phone nor would they demand payment to avoid arrest.
If you get a call from someone who claims they are calling from a legitimate company or government agency and are asking for personal information hang up and call the agency back on their publicly published contact numbers.
© News4.ca 2020
