A warning about fraudsters and remote access to your computer

City police are warning about a phone scam that’s been called in locally.

This after they received a complaint from a resident about an unknown person, who said they worked for a bank, calling and wanting to provide a refund from a bankrupt company.

They were instructed to give the fraudster remote access to their computer and log into their bank account.

After noticing money being transferred from one account to another, the person was told a portion was his refund, but there was also a balance to a foreign company to secure the refund.

Police say the person did not send any funds and contacted his bank immediately.

In a release, police offer tips on how not to fall victim to telephone scams.

Here are suggestions that should help ensure that you do not fall victim to the tactics of fraudulent telephone scams:

• DO NOT believe that everyone calling with an exciting promotion, an investment opportunity, a prize, a refund or a reward is trustworthy, especially if you do not know the caller or are not expecting a call from the company the caller claims to represent.
• DO NOT be fooled by call display. Often scammers will use caller ID “spoofing” to deliberately falsify the call display in order to disguise their true identity and to fool you into believing they are from a reputable company.
• DO NOT give unknown callers remote access to your computer.
• DO NOT be afraid to request further documentation from the caller so you can verify the validity of the company.
• DO NOT disclose information about your finances, bank accounts or credit cards (not even the credit card expiry date).

Simply hang up and contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) to report the fraud. The CAFC is the central agency in Canada, based in North Bay and run by the RCMP, that collects information and criminal intelligence on telephone scams, letter scams, Internet fraud and identification theft complaints. Call Toll Free 1-888-495-8501 Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. or visit www.antifraudcentre.ca for more information.