We have received calls from two different consumers on two different possible phone scams.
Phone scam #1: Collections Court Action
In this instance the consumer received a threatening phone call from a man that claimed the consumer had a court action filed against him. The caller gave a legitimate sounding file number for the court action as proof. The caller claimed that the matter was in regards to a loan of $4000 in the consumer’s name that had not been paid. The caller told the consumer, in a rather aggressive tone, that he would be arrested if he did not pay the loan promptly as per the court action. The caller then proceeded to make a claim that for $250 and the consumers Social Insurance Number, that he could stop the warrant for arrest.
Protect Yourself: If you receive a similar call to this one please contact the BBB of Vancouver Island with additional information about the content of the call (250.386.6348) If you legitimately had a court action filed against you in regards to an unpaid loan, you would likely have been informed, prior to this phone call, about the matter. They key red flags that this is a scam include the aggressive approach of the caller, the threat that a warrant for arrest could be stopped with a payment, and the request for a Social Insurance Number.
If you are concerned for some reason that there is an unpaid loan out there in your name, it would be wise to check your credit report (with Equifax or TransUnion) to see if there are any unknown loans on your file. Besides informing the BBB it would also be wise for you to inform your local police and to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1 (888) 495-8501) to report a call such as this.
Phone scam #2: BBB Business to Consumer Complaint
Consumer received a phone call with very broken up reception from a person claiming to be a representative of the BBB. The supposed BBB representative stated that BC Hydro was filing a business to consumer complaint, against the consumer because they did not accept and pay for the delivery of a BC Hydro energy savings device that was ordered. The consumers had no recollection of every ordering such a product and had not denied the delivery of such a product. The caller was aggressive and persistent and eventually hung up after the consumer began asking for further information.
Protect Yourself: If you receive a similar call to this one please contact the BBB of Vancouver Island with additional information about the content of the call (250.386.6348). Note that the BBB does not process complaints from businesses against consumers. If a company has a problem with the delivery of a product and payment of a customer, the business will most likely take the matter to a debt collection agency or to court.