Corporal Mandy Edwards of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has offered a series of tips on how not to fall victim to telephone fraudsters. The immediate cause was an incident in the town of Truro, where a fraudulent call led to a police tactical unit being dispatched to a woman’s home.
According to Edwards, telephone scams are becoming increasingly common and now involve a wide range of schemes: from fake “government” or “bank” calls and bogus prize wins to demands for urgent money transfers. To cover their tracks, criminals often use spoofed caller ID, making it harder to distinguish genuine calls from fake ones.
The officer stresses that people of all ages are affected by such schemes, although older people are often the main target. Fraudsters try to catch someone at a vulnerable moment — for example, when a person is expecting a parcel and an unknown caller rings to report a supposed “payment problem” and demands their payment details.
One of the common schemes Edwards describes is the so-called “grandparent scam”. The fraudster calls an older person and, pretending to be a grandchild or other close relative, describes an allegedly urgent financial problem: being held up at an airport, needing money for an operation, or posting bail to get out of custody. In such cases she advises ending the call immediately and phoning other family members directly to verify the story.
To reduce the risks, Edwards recommends not answering calls from unknown numbers. If a call is genuinely important, a legitimate caller will leave a voicemail message or get in touch in another way. It is also worth paying attention to the origin of the numbers: messages or calls from unexpected foreign codes may indicate an attempted scam.
The officer advises never to give bank card details, social insurance numbers or any other financial information over the phone. She also specifically warns against revealing answers to typical “security questions” — your mother’s maiden name, the name of the street where you grew up, your pet’s name and so on — as this information can be used to gain access to online accounts.
Edwards also emphasises that in cases of threats or blackmail over the phone, you should end the call and note down as many details as possible for a subsequent report to the police: the number displayed on the screen, any noticeable accent, particular speech patterns, background noises. Such details help law enforcement track trends and link separate incidents together.
She advises reporting all suspicious calls to the police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, even where there has been no financial loss. The Centre gathers information about fraud schemes and publishes guidance on protection.
Another key piece of advice is always to verify the identity and organisation the caller claims to represent. If someone says they are from your bank, a delivery service or a government agency, Edwards recommends hanging up, finding the official number on your bank card or on the official website, and calling back on that verified contact.
She also recommends using your phone settings to block unwanted calls and messages, and not relying entirely on caller ID, as it can easily be faked.
Edwards urges those who have been victims of fraud not to be embarrassed about speaking out. She says that open discussion of such cases within families and communities helps prevent further offences, as criminals often operate in series and look for new victims.
“Do not share any personal or financial information with unexpected callers. Hang up, then call the institution yourself on a verified number” — Mandy Edwards
The officer stresses that nobody is immune from being duped, regardless of education or life experience, so it is important to remain alert to any unexpected calls and offers.