Please Remember To Verify Suspicious Requests

Over the las several weeks the Sarnia Police Service has received a number of reports of various scams that people have been exposed to.

They involve scare tactics where the individual claims that their social insurance number or credit has been compromised and now the government or the credit card company needs to verify information to confirm if the card was truly compromised. They may even threaten you with being arrested and having a warrant issued. These criminals then use the information to create credit cards and / or commit other fraudulent activity.

Other scams involve calls or letters advising that the victim owes a certain amount money or they could be charged. They then will arrange for payment in non-traditional methods such as bit-coin or via Google gift cards, Apple gift cards, etc. These methods are not traceable.

We are asking individuals to not give out any of their personal information. Rather take the time to verify if the call is legitimate if you are unsure. Do not use the phone number or contact given to you by the possible criminal but rather research the correct number or contact address via the web or from previous, legitimate correspondence with the company or the government.

No legitimate company will ask for payment via gift cards or bit-coin so please avoid paying in this manner.

Once your personal information is released (ie, social insurance number, credit card number, etc.) you cannot get it back. Also, once you have paid in the previously mentioned fashion the money cannot be retrieved. These criminals are normally from out of province and more than likely from out of country and thus the likely hood of arresting anyone or retrieving losses is extremely low.

If you do not give out any information or pay any money you do not need to call the police. Instead, when you receive these calls simply hang-up or ignore the letter or email. Also, they will tell you that you must act now, please do not allow this pressure to get you but take the time to look into further if you are concerned.
Finally, please talk to anyone elderly you may know or are taking care of and advise them of the above information. We find that these criminals tend to target this population at a higher frequency.

For more information please click on the following: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/fraud-scams.html

Constable Giovanni Sottosanti

Media Officer