Beware of ongoing scams

Law enforcement in P.E.I. is warning the public of ongoing scams.

The RCMP says a telephone scam is circulating that seeks to obtain people's social insurance numbers (SIN). The automated caller identifies himself as the RCMP and indicates the person on the phone’s SIN may have been compromised and requests they press 1 on their keypad to initiate security measures.

The RCMP does not operate in this fashion, so anyone who receives a call like this is encouraged to end the call immediately.

The RCMP said email and phone scams continue to plague Islanders and said not to provide personal or banking information over the phone or through the internet or email.

Meanwhile, Charlottetown police are warning of a surge in phone scams in recent days. A number of residents have been receiving calls from a 1-800 number. As with many previous scams, the caller informs the potential victim that he or she owes money and that if they don’t pay, police will go arrest them.

The caller is aggressive and attempts to scare the person into believing they must pay immediately or will face arrest. So far, no one has been defrauded of any money, and all have simply hung up on the caller.

Anyone who has received this type of call can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or visit antifraudcentrecentreantifraude.ca, and anyone who has fallen victim to this scam by sending money is asked to report it to their local police department.