Columbia Valley RCMP urge the public to be cautious of fraudsters targeting residents following a recent uptick in reports.
This comes as police received a call from a gas station worker reporting that an older person was looking to purchase Apple gift cards and was likely being scammed.
Officers found the person and confirmed they were the target of fraud. Police then educated the potential victim about online scams.
“Shout out to the employee for recognizing this was a fraud,” said Columbia Valley RCMP.
Police officials say this incident was one among an increasing number of online scams where fraudsters request gift cards, such as Apple, Google Play or Amazon.
Columbia Valley RCMP officials say legitimate entities will not request gift cards as payment.
“The RCMP would like to make the public aware that several scams are going around with these fraudsters pretending to be local phone companies, CRA and even family members and are requesting gift cards for payment,” said Columbia Valley RCMP.
Police officials say they have noticed scammers tend to target elderly people and urge that you educate elderly family members about the danger of these scams.
You can find more resources about various types of fraud here.
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