ST. JOHN'S, N.L. —
The justice department and police in this province are warning the public about a few fraudulent phone scams circulating recently.
One of the scams offers jury duty exemptions, while the
Both ask for the person’s social insurance number with the intent of gaining personal information.
In the jury duty scam, the robocall claims to be made on behalf of the Department of Justice and makes a connection to the federal election before further stating that the call recipient’s social insurance number was randomly selected.
The scam then requests additional personal financial information as a way to be released from a jury summons.
In its public advisory about it, the Department of Justice and Public Safety points out that a jury summons is a court order that requires selected persons to attend court on a specific day and time. Exemptions are only provided by the Office of the High Sheriff or a judge.
In Stephenville, the RCMP Bay St. George reports it has received a number of complaints about fraudulent federal government calls.
The calls are reportedly coming from live individuals and automated recordings.
Fraudsters, who identify themselves as agents from Citizenship Canada or Service Canada, are asking people questions about their SIN and other personal information.
Residents are reminded not to divulge sensitive personal information such as their SIN over the telephone.
Any suspicious calls, soliciting personal information should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or online at http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
