Before you pick up your telephone SaskTel and SaskPower want you to keep in mind one thing.
SaskTel and SaskPower customers are being targeted by an unknown organization making computer generated phone calls. The caller indicates that as a loyal SaskTel or SaskPower customer you have won a prize or free gift and then asks you to press the 1 key on your phone to find out further details.
This is a common scam and is not a legitimate offering says Andy Tate, SaskTel Media Relations. SaskTel and SaskPower recommend that you simply hang up and do not dial back the number that may be displayed on your call display.
Both companies would also like to assure customers that pressing 1 will not result in unwanted long distance charges. However, pressing 1 could bring a person on the line who may ask for a credit card number or banking information. Customers should not give out their financial information."If a customer has already provided personal financial information, including bank account or credit card numbers over the phone, they should contact their local police to report the matter as well as immediately contacting their financial institutions," says Tate.
Other options available to customers when they receive these types of calls are:
Register with the National Do Not Call List at 1-866-580-3625.
Report the call to Phonebusters (the Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre) at 1-888-495-8501.
If the call is received on a landline phone, customers can activate Call Trace by pressing *57 after receiving the call. Cell phone customers should note the date and time. SaskTel will make trace records available to the National Do Not Call List or police upon their request.
