On Monday, August 15, 2016, the Abbotsford Police Department received four complaints describing a very similar telephone fraud.
The male caller purported to be a member of the APD who was making contact in order to resolve historic immigration issues relating to a family or members of the family receiving the call.
The suspect attempted to gain personal information and suggested that a lack of cooperation will result in deportation. Investigators believe that the fraudster will use personal information to obtain funds via credit card or wire transfers from the victims.
The fraudster uses Caller ID Spoofing to display the phone number of the APD (604-859-5225) in order to make the phone call appear more legitimate.
Fortunately, those who reported to us yesterday were suspicious and discontinued the conversation with the caller and contacted the Abbotsford Police Department. The calls appeared to be targeting members of the South Asian Community.
This fraud utilizes a commonly employed theme where an individual is in trouble with authorities and the remedy is to provide information and money in order to resolve the problem.
We ask that the public become familiar with this theme and to make direct contact with the police or government agencies to determine the legitimacy of the communication. In addition, you should never provide credit card information, initiate a wire transfer or purchase gift cards to resolve an issue that any anonymous caller describes.
Anyone with information about this incident should contact police.
