Image: Supplied by City of Abbotsford / The City of Abbotsford is warning residents not to fall prey to a scam in which a pre-recorded message contacts residents and urges them to press "one" on their phone to pay for an outstanding invoice or bill.
Abbotsford scams

City of Abbotsford warns residents of phone scam circulating in the community

Dec 15, 2022 | 3:16 PM

ABBOTSFORD— Online tricksters and scammers will stop at nothing to swindle at least one unsuspecting person out of their hard-earned money, or gain access to their credit card and banking information.

The City of Abbotsford warned its nearly 14,000 followers on social media Thursday afternoon (Dec. 15) not to fall prey to a nefarious scam currently circulating in the community.

The official Facebook page of the City of Abbotsford is advising residents that scammers are soliciting payment information through a pre-recorded voice message from a phone number purporting to belong to the City of Abbotsford.

The spoofing attempt involves a recording alerting residents to an outstanding order with the City of Abbotsford, and subsequently asks unsuspecting individuals to press “one” on their phone to submit a payment over the phone.

The calls are as fake as they come and do not originate from the City of Abbotsford.

The City urges people to consider the following:

* Never assume that phone numbers appearing on your call display are accurate

* Don’t click on links from unsolicited messages

* Don’t download attachments from unsolicited messages

* Watch for spelling mistakes

* Don’t trust a message just because the email address looks legitimate; fraudsters can spoof the address

* Beware of messages claiming to be from the Government of Canada or a law enforcement agency; they will never contact you to offer funds via email or e-transfer

* More information on protecting yourself from scams or fraud is available from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

For further details, please visit: www.abbotsford.ca/alerts.