Local authorities are cautioning newcomers who’ve recently arrived in Canada to beware of fraud, after the report of a recent incident, specifically targeting newcomers to Estevan.
The Estevan Police Service is investigating a reported fraud involving a situation in which the suspects threaten victims with claims that they will be arrested or deported if victims don’t immediately pay money.
“Whether it’s phone calls, emails or texts, (suspects) are obviously doing some background research,” said Sgt. Tyler McMillan in a phone call with the Mercury. “Enough research, that they know a little bit about the victims, and put pressure on them.”
McMillan stressed how important it is to contact the police, immigrant services or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), with any questions about a suspicious contact from someone looking for money.
He noted the scam under investigation appears to follow a similar theme as earlier scams which target seniors by tricking and coercing them into providing money or financial information.
“They’ll try to trick people and convince them they’ll get arrested if they don’t pay some outstanding tax,” said McMillan. “Or they’ll say, ‘You won a new car. To get this car, just pay me $1,000 and we’ll ship it to you.’”
Jhaldair (Jay) Roye, information services adviser with Southeast Newcomer Services (SNS), said they don’t have a lot of information on the recent scam, because it’s under police investigation. Roye noted that SNS has attempted to reach out to the victim after hearing about the incident.
“We are aware these types of scams do happen, but it’s never hit close to home like that before. I’ve only heard of this one instance, but at the same time, we want to be able to be aware and know these scams are taking place,” said Roye. “We also want for people to be cautious and protect themselves.”
He said the recent scam that took place is typical to scams targeting newcomers often, with threats of deportation, unless a fine is paid.
Roye said there is no fine for anything to do with applications, or for any of the issues a person might have with immigration, and that there never will be such a fine. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) would never call and threaten to deport someone for not meeting a deadline.
“There is never going to be a case where you need to pay money in order to stay in Canada,” he said.
Roye said another common scam for which newcomers are targeted is one claiming that if a person makes an immediate payment, they can speed up the approval process for citizenship or residency. He noted there is no way to speed up approval of documents or the necessary processing time.
“They all play on how susceptible and vulnerable these individuals are. Some are less receptive to scamming, but others might panic and not know how to react,” said Roye. “One thing you should ensure you do is double check and get a second opinion from someone else, or if you’re not sure, call the police and get some information. The police are there for support.”
Roye said a common feature in many scams is an attempt on the part of the scammer to make the victim believe they will be arrested if they go to the police. This can create a sense of panic in some victims, which causes them not to think straight.
“As such, some people will make a decision that under normal circumstances, they’d never make. Scammers make their victims nervous and prey on that.”
In the event of a threatening call, Roye advised to immediately hang up and contact the police and report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. He noted that if an email or call sounds suspicious, to do research and report it.
He advised to never isolate oneself in any such situation, because scammers tend to prey on people who are isolated and separated from resources by which they can be helped.
Roye said CIC has made a great deal of effort to advise newcomers on the dangers of scams. According to CIC, scams tend to be implemented through emails and by means of phone calls.
“There’s a whole breakdown on CIC website on how to recognize some scams,” said Roye. “The CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) has the same issue with scams and is always warning newcomers and Canadians, as a whole, to be very cautious when someone contacts them, claiming to represent one of those organizations.”
Roye emphasized the fact that CIC would never make any of the sorts of calls that scammers direct at their victims. Often, scams involve requests for victims to send money transfers through Western Union, or MoneyGram, or other such services. Roye said that neither CIC or any other government agency will ever ask for payments using such methods.
Roye also cautioned to watch out for emails addresses that seem suspicious, noting that if a government agency like CIC or CRA sends an email, they’ll never use a private email address.
“It may seem like it’s coming from them, but they’ll never use a private email address,” said Roye. “You’ll always see the ‘.gc.ca’. They’ll never be using email addresses like Yahoo or Gmail.”
Southeast Newcomer Services has its Facebook page periodically updated, whenever any sort of scamming activity is going on, Roye noted. The message behind such updates is for anyone, especially newcomers to Canada, to be vigilant and informed.
