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COLUMN: On scammers and gullibility

On the treadmill after a long workday, my cellphone rings. The last time I answered it on the treadmill I accidentally let my headphones dangle and they got caught in the machine’s belt, ripping off an earbud. This time, I decide not to answer.
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On the treadmill after a long workday, my cellphone rings. The last time I answered it on the treadmill I accidentally let my headphones dangle and they got caught in the machine’s belt, ripping off an earbud. This time, I decide not to answer.

 When I leave the gym, I dial into my voicemail.
The man’s words are initially hard to hear, but I catch, “officer James Morrison,” and can detect a thick accent and gruff tone.
The next line he says is, “Don’t try to disregard this message.” Then the man gives a phone number I can’t quite make out. I can understand this: “If you don’t return this call and I don’t hear from your attorney either then the only thing I can do is wish you good luck as the situation really revolves around you, so give me a call back as soon as you get this message.”

Now, I have written stories about scam phone calls and victims who rush to give away their money to some threatening, disembodied voice who turns out to be a fraudster and yet — and yet — listening to the call I felt my stomach drop and my heart quicken.
My brain did a quick scan of any reason I would need to call the police.
Was one of my four sons in trouble? No, couldn’t be that as I had talked to each of them earlier that day.

My husband? No, he has had one speeding ticket in the entirety of our marriage, and that was traumatic for him — so it couldn’t be that.
Did I do something? Even when our local police have been displeased with something we put in the paper, they haven’t left messages like that, I tell myself.
Soon I am convinced this is a scam, and I relax. Once home, I Google “officer James Morrison” and sure enough it is a common scam where a man impersonates an employee of the Canada Revenue Agency.

What has stuck with me though, is how scary that moment was for me, someone who really should know better than to get sucked in by such things.

I can definitely understand how someone perhaps more vulnerable, or with less experience interacting with law enforcement — through work, people; I am an upstanding citizen — could get duped.
That is what makes these scams so evil. They prey on our fears.
The CRA says they never use police to threaten arrest for tax issues.
If you get one of these calls, rest assured you aren’t alone and you aren’t in trouble. Hang up and inform the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or by calling 1-888-495-8501. And spread the word.
 

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