CityWest warns of ongoing fraud efforts

Phone fraud artists are back at it again in the Northwest, and this time they are using the ruse of representing the region's communication company CityWest to try to collect information from CityWest customers.

The Prince Rupert based company outlined the background to the scam on Tuesday with a notice posted to their website (see here) it notes that the fraudsters are contacting residents promoting a "free offer" or "certificates for airfare", following that up with a request for personal information such as the customer's full name, date of birth and Social Insurance number.

Collecting such information is one of a number of ways that fraud artists seek to build up a profile on targets.

CityWest notes that their representatives will never ask for a customers social insurance number when calling them directly, the further expand on what kind of information they might request as part of their notice.

Company officials are also concerned about the increase use of online ads asking those users to participate in an "anonymous survey" they note that those efforts are not legitimate and not affiliate with CityWest.

More background on the email scams can be found here.

Those seeking more information on the fraudsters attempts can contact CityWest at 1-800-442-8664

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