ICBC warns customers to delete texts that appear to offer a refund
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Sep, 2017 02:03 PM
The Insurance Corporation of B.C. is advising its customers to delete any recent text messages claiming to be from the auto insurer, because the messages could be a scam.
ICBC spokeswoman Joanna Linsangen says several customers report receiving texts informing them of a refund for a traffic fine or red-light violation and providing a link to claim the money.
Linsangen says the link directs the user to a site where personal banking information must be entered.
She says the corporation believes the texts are part of a SMiShing scheme, short for SMS phishing, aimed at tricking users to unknowingly download malware onto a mobile device or to send personal information.
A news release from the corporation says it never uses unsecured channels like text messages or social media to communicate sensitive information and it never issues refunds via text or Interac e-transfer.
Customers who have received a suspect message on their mobile device are encouraged to report it to the non-emergency line of their local police department and also to the federal government's Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
A murder victim, whose body was found Monday morning along the banks of the Fraser River in Richmond, has been identified as Muzaffer Darwaish, a 28-year-old Richmond resident.
The children's parents were killed in a car crash in the U.S. more than a decade ago and the kids were adopted by their aunt and uncle, who moved them to Calgary.
