Scammers now using Canadian government phone numbers to seem legitimate: reports

TORONTO (680 NEWS) – Fraudsters have found a new way to part Canadians from their hard-earned money.

The CBC reports scammers are now using phone numbers from more than a dozen federal government agencies, including police departments, to defraud people, making those calls look legitimate.

Those agencies include Service Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Some of the calls warn potential victims their social insurance numbers have been compromised, while other victims are told they owe the government money and are in legal trouble, much like the scheme in which fraudsters pretend to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Fraud experts are calling it organized crime on an international level, telling people to be vigilant and never to give out any personal information over the phone.