Phone scammers posed as border services agents: Charlottetown police

At least one Islander has received a fraudulent phone call from scammers claiming to be Canada Border Services agents and Charlottetown police officers.

Charlottetown Police Services said the victim received a phone call from 1-888-502-9060, where the male caller identified himself as an agent with the CBSA.

The caller told the victim that he is the primary suspect in a very major and serious criminal investigation and that Charlottetown police would be contacting him and advising that there is a warrant for his arrest.

The “agent” further states that the police would arrest the victim and place him in jail for 48 hours.

While on the phone with the fake agent, the victim received a second call from 902-629-4054, which the scammer told him to answer. This caller identified himself as an officer with Charlottetown Police Services and advised the victim that he is the subject of an arrest warrant.

The fake officer instructed the victim to follow the instructions of the “CBSA agent,” who then instructed the victim to go to Lawton’s and Shoppers Drug Mart where he purchased $500 worth of Google Play gift cards.

The scammer then told the victim to scratch the back of the cards and email him the gift card numbers.

The phone numbers displayed in this scam where the actual phone numbers of Canada Border Services Agency and Charlottetown Police Services.

Police are reminding the public to be vigilant and not to fall victim to these scams. Law enforcement agencies never ask for payments in this manner.

Anyone contacted by these scammers should hang up and report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888495-8501.