With door-to-door scams, telephone scams, email scams and technology scams, it seems every corner you turn someone is trying to scam you and unfortunately many of them are succeeding.
According to the North Okanagan RCMP they receive over a dozen calls a week related to people being scammed. Police believe a lot more are going unreported.
“Scams are out there all the time, everyday, please don't let your guard down,” says RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk.
He says the hot scams plaguing residents right now include:
- The West Jet scam
- The Grandparent scam
- Computer Tech Support scam
- Door-to-door
Molendyk says unfortunately seniors are often the targets and the RCMP are concerned scammers are still manipulating residents.
“We have a lot of seniors in our communities and they seem to be the targets. Don't quickly send money across the country or give money, ask some pertinent questions,” says Molendyk.
“Especially with the grandparent scam, ask questions only you and your grandchild would know the answer too, like what school did you go to, first pet or a siblings name or something along those lines.”
Just last week Molendyk says a woman out of Armstrong nearly sent $2,500 to a grandparent scammer.
Door-to-door offers to repair your home scams are also prevalent, always claiming they need the money up front.
Molendyk says a good source of information comes from the Better Business Bureau who keeps a report of the top ten scams affecting British Columbians right now.
The RCMP is asking anyone who experiences any form of scamming to report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, email them at [email protected] or report it online at https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
Here are the top scams of 2013: