Prince Albert Police are warning residents to ignore calls from an unknown overseas number. P.A. Police say ignore the call or hang up immediately and do not call it back. P.A. Police are directing residents to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre which says in 2019 the telephone calls were the main contact method used by scanners, there are numerous methods used like automated dialing, robocalls, spoofing, and delayed disconnect which is only used on landlines. Delayed disconnect is tricky because the scammer pretends to be from your bank or another institution and asks you to verify their identity by calling the number of your bank – only the scammer hasn’t disconnected so you’re actually talking to the same fraudster.

How to protect yourself from telephone fraud:
– Register your phone number for free with Canada’s National Do Not Call List
– If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message, hang up. Do not press 1 or call back
– Whenever you’re asked to make a secondary call, wait a few minutes after ending the original call or call back from a different phone number
– If you’re not expecting a call or do not recognize the Caller ID, let the call go to your answering machine