VANCOUVER - A scammer pretending to be from the Canada Revenue Agency picked the wrong person to call earlier this week.
The Victoria Police Department posted a video on its Twitter account showing Const. Matt Rutherford speaking to a scammer who called his cell phone.
The video begins with Rutherford apparently transferred to a new person, who answers the phone saying, "Service Canada, how can I help you?"
Rather than answering that question or providing an explanation, Rutherford responds, "I'm just wondering what's happening."
When the scammer asks for his name, he says, "You already have my name."
The person on the other end of the line says this is for "verification purposes," but Rutherford still doesn't provide his name. Instead, Rutherford asks the scammer to again say where he's calling from.
The scammer then hangs up.
Police departments around British Columbia have been warning about phone scams in recent months. In many cases, fraudsters are "spoofing" police department phone numbers, making it look like the victim is receiving a call from police demanding money.
Police ask people who receive phone calls from suspected scammers not to provide any information to the caller, but instead to report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
