Province
Anyone phoning or e-mailing Telus customers for personal information should raise a red flag.
Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said yesterday the company has recently received 100 customer complaints about scams, a “fourfold increase” in the frequency of such complaints.
Callers are asking customers for names, addresses, birth dates, account numbers, credit cards and passwords. Three top scams are:
– Social Engineering: The fraudster phones as a legitimate caller, trying to trick the customer into disclosing personal information, such as credit-card numbers.
– 809 Caribbean Scam: Fraudsters try to get you to call a number starting with 809 to win a prize or find out about an injured relative. The number is the area code for the Dominican Republic, which has weaker phone laws. When you phone back, you’re kept on hold, racking up to $7 a minute.
– E-mail Scam: Fraudsters will send an e-mail to Telus customers, asking them to fill out a form asking for information on their user name and password.
“If you have any concerns, hang up,” said Hall.
If you feel you’re been scammed, call 1-877-567-2062.
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