On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, a senior citizen called to report that she believed someone had tried to scam her over the phone.
The scammer said that he was with the Regional Health Authority and was talking to seniors in the community about vitamin pills and the many benefits of vitamins. He then recommended that she purchase some natural vitamin B products.
Savvy and now aware that this was likely a scam, she told him “aren’t all vitamins natural?” The scammer then hung up.
The caller was described as a male with a very strong accent and called from a 289 phone extension traced back to Hamilton, ON. On call back, the phone number was out of service and an online query showed this phone number was related to similar scams where the caller reported to be from the Regional Health Authority,
Island Health confirmed that they do not contact people to sell products over the phone and encourages anyone who receives this type of solicitation to notify police.
While this 90-year-old senior was too clever for this scammer and did not provide him with any personal or banking information, she called the Saanich Police in an appeal to warn other seniors who might fall victim to this type of scam.
For any attempted scam/fraud, area residents that have not lost any money and have not provided personal or financial information (relating to a fraud or scam), who simply want to inform the appropriate organizations, can report it to the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC) by calling 1-888-495-8501.
Further information for how to protect yourself from scammers can be found here:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/telemarketing/fraud.htm
Cst. Markus Anastasiades
Public Information and Communications Officer