Residents in the Prince Albert area continue to receive fraudulent texts claiming they need to appear in Provincial Court on an outstanding traffic violation.
The texts claim that recipients have an outstanding traffic citation, and direct individuals to click a link and submit payment online, falsely identifying the sender as the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan RCMP they continue to receive reports of the scam text messages, which were first reported in the Carnduff and Indian Head areas using a ‘+21’ area code.
“The scam text message may come from other area codes or numbers, so we encourage the public to be vigilant,” Keely Grasser a spokesperson for the Saskatchewan RCMP said in an email to the Herald.
The text messages include an arresting officer, judge, court administrator and file number.
Grasser said residents who receive a text message they believe to be fraudulent should not text the scammer back. Instead, Grasser said, residents should block the scam number immediately and keep a record of those texts. She said residents should not send money, or gift cards.
While previous scam texts used a ‘+21’ area code, the message received in Prince Albert over the long weekend came from a ‘+63’ area code, which is for the Philippines. The messages included information about a court date on Monday, Aug. 3, which was a stat holiday.
The Prince Albert Police Service also confirmed that they have received notices about similar text messages in the community.
“I can confirm that we have received notifications from members of the public, who also lodged complaints at our front desk. In response, we made a social media post to educate our community and advise them on steps to take to avoid being victims of these scam texts,” a PAPS representative wrote to the Daily Herald in an email.
The social media post, which appeared on July 22 on Facebook, stated that the Prince Albert Police Service is warning the public about fraudulent text messages with the header ‘Traffic Summons.’
These messages claim the recipient has been summoned to appear in court on a specified date and encourage them to click a link to “resolve” the matter or avoid further action. PAPS said the messages are fraudulent.
The Prince Albert Police Service echoed the RCMP on what to do if you receive a message.
“Court summonses and other official legal documents are not served by unsolicited text messages with links requesting immediate action,” the post reads.
PAPS stated that if you clicked the link or provided any personal or financial information, contact your financial institution immediately and report the incident to the Prince Albert Police Service at 306-953-4222.
“If you are ever unsure whether a message is legitimate, verify the information by contacting the appropriate court or government agency directly using official contact information. Please help protect others by sharing this alert,” the post stated.
The RCMP said that If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a text message or believe you are the victim of a fraud, please contact your local RCMP detachment at 310-RCMP. If you receive a text message that you believe to be a scam or fraudulent, you can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. You can report by phone (Toll free: 1-888-495-8501) or online here: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm.
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