The Service de police de l'agglomération de Longueuil is appealing to your vigilance in the face of a recent upsurge in fraud

Fraudsters are always looking for new ways to get their way. The Service de police de l'agglomération de Longueuil (SPAL) would like to warn you of a new "fake representative" type of fraud underway on our territory and to call on you to be cautious.

Fraud prevention tips:

• Never trust what is written on your phone's display, as fraudsters use applications that allow them to write down the names of financial institutions;
• Never give out personal information over the phone;
• Ask personal questions that only those closest to you will be able to answer (e.g.: name of a relative, city of birth, etc.);
• Remember that financial institutions never ask their customers to hand over bank cards or reveal their personal identification number (PIN);
• Tell the caller you'll call them back. In most cases, fraudsters will hang up;
• Check that the organization you're dealing with is legitimate by doing your research;
• Remember that letter carriers don't collect from individuals. Nor do they collect mail for financial institutions from their customers' homes;
• Remain on your guard, even if the caller is very insistent and appears credible;
• Call a member of your family to confirm the information;
• Report the incident to the police by dialing 911;
• Report the fraud, or attempted fraud, to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC): report fraud and cybercrime (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca).

To find out more, check out their Facebook post.