Mounties warn of phone scam targetting immigrants and refugees

http://www.cfra.com/news/2016/01/04/mounties-warn-of-phone-scam-targetting-immigrants-and-refugees

The Mounties are warning the public about a telephone scam targetting immigrants and refugees.
In the scam, a caller pretending to be from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada tells the victim they owe thousands of dollars.
RCMP Sgt. Penny Hermann said the caller gets aggressive, threatening to deport the person and separate them from their family.
"A government [official] would not be making any kind of threat whatsoever like that," she said. "They would not be making phone calls like that to begin with, but they wouldn't be threatening anything. You'll notice that it has serious threats on there."
She said if you receive a call of this nature, you should not pay any money and follow these steps:

• Write down the number the call came from if you have call display
• Look up the real number for the agency in question. Call them to confirm whether they were trying to get in touch with you
• If not, call police to report the call
  
  

  RCMP released the following example of this type of scam as part of their Fraud Awareness Campaign:

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  IRCC Imposter: Hello this is Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada calling, I have bad news for you.
  Taunya: Sorry? Who is this?
  IRCC Imposter: This is Roger___ (an Anglophone surname, which is confusing as it is contrasted by a strong ethnic accent) from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Your status has changed and you must pay additional fees.
  Taunya: I don't understand.
  IRCC Imposter: Please confirm your full name and address as well as those who live with you?
  Taunya: I don't understand. I live alone with my 5 year old daughter. I live at 105 Main Street.
  IRCC Imposter: Please provide your passport number?
  Taunya: CDN2015
  IRCC Imposter: What do you do for a living?
  Taunya: I work full time and study part time.
  IRCC Imposter: You changed your status without advising Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada and as a result you must pay additional fees. You owe $12,000.
  Taunya: I don't know how that could have happened, I can't afford that.
  IRCC Imposter: (irritated by the amount of time that he has spent to get his point across, is now yelling into the phone) YOU WILL BE ARRESTED BY THE POLICE TODAY AND DEPORTED AND SEPARATED FROM YOUR CHILD, DO YOU WANT THAT TO HAPPEN?
  Taunya: Of course not! No!
  IRCC Imposter: Good, then you will go to the nearest Western Union or MoneyGram and you will follow my directions.
  Taunya: Does not make any sense! I am going to record this and call the police.
  IRCC Imposter: (yelling) DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DAUGHTER IS NOW?
  Taunya: Pardon me? Is that a threat?
  IRCC Imposter: No, but your daughter will be kidnapped today (hangs up).
  Although Taunya was extremely disturbed by the phone call, she saw through the imposter's ruse. And like many other fraudsters, the moment he was exposed, he ran. Fortunately, Taunya saw this for what it was...a scam. Unfortunately many new hard working Canadians are fooled and have lost money.
  What makes this worst is that many victims never report these incidents to the police. If you, a friend or family member has either received a call from a fraudster, or has lost money through this type of call, please report it. Lastly, if you are reading this, please do your part in sharing this message with everyone and help us to educate new Canadian's against this type of fraud.
  This is a fraud similar to the CRA scam. Both extort money from their victims through a number of different threats. Both of these frauds are being perpetuated coast to coast, and have impacted both male and female victims from many different age groups and cultural backgrounds.