North Van RCMP warns about COVID-19 scams

North Vancouver RCMP is warning people about a series of COVID-19 scams.

“We’re warning the North Vancouver community about a series of Covid-19 related scams that are popping up nation-wide,” said Sgt. Peter DeVries of the North Vancouver RCMP.

“Thankfully we haven’t received any reports of people losing money,” he said. “We want to keep it that way.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is seeing an uptick in fake emails, texts and social media posts that try to trick victims into sending money or revealing personal information.

Fraudsters may ask people to donate to victims, offer advice on unproven treatments, protective gear, virus detection kits, or fake home sanitizing services, or may direct people to bogus websites selling non-existent products.

“Our phones have been lighting up too, sometimes 3, 4, 5 times a day with phishing emails and bogus text messages,” said Sgt. DeVries. “The community has enough to deal with at the moment. Don’t let these fraudsters add insult to injury.”

Here are some of the most common scams:

Text messages offering free face masks from the Red Cross, with a fake link that prompts the person to make a payment as a donation or delivery fee for masks they will never receive

Emails from fraudsters pretending to be the WHO or the Public Health Agency of Canada, prompting the recipient to give personal information to obtain updates on the organization’s response to COVID-19

Phone calls from fraudsters pretending to be the WHO or the Public Health Agency of Canada informing people that they have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and asking for a credit card number and health card number

If you have lost money or valuables, or provided your personal information, contact the police. If you have been contacted but have not lost anything or given your personal information, report online to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.