Call just came in – Display is ‘514-819-0471’. As I have ill family in Montreal, I answered (working from home today). Prerecorded message – “You or your family purchased products and entered an on-line contest. You have won 25,000 Travel points towards an all-inclusive vacation to the Bahamas….Press 1 or 3 if you no longer wish to participate in the contest” and at that point I hung up.
Of course no business name or caller name is mentioned.
This is a new version of the 'tropical timeshare condo' scam. This is a scam within a scam. The pretext is the 'vacation' which is supposedly to sell you a timeshare. Users posted who jumped through hoops and 'took the cruise' are now involved in lawsuits, as the timeshare units apparently aren't real either. The real SCAM to get your identity and credit card data/income level from you and any other data they can get like your employer - they use it to make Fake IDs and get credit cards; which they use to commit more fraud. They can destroy your credit rating before you catch on.
The number call from is spoofed, they use a robo-dialer computer and a VoIP line, not a real phone line. If you push ANY buttons, it tells them your number is 'live' and then they use and sell your number to other organized crime scammers. JUST HANG UP. The Do Not Call Registry works for legit companies; criminals don't care and just call over and over using more spoofed numbers, trying different scams.
See the RCMP "Top Ten Scams' list. Email to their Anti-fraud unit at
[email protected]. You can also email your elected federal official, telling them you want them to support the Anti-fraud unit and new proposed changes recommended by the Federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada. It takes time and international cooperation to gather evidence so they can prosecute and shut these people down. Support their efforts by reporting, and keep on posting here folks!