Hanging up on a telephone scammer may not be enough.
A Salmon Arm resident hopes others will take heed of this message after recently being snagged by fraudsters who may have been using "line-trapping" technology.
On a Thursday morning in late February, 2025, "Janet" (real name withheld) received a call on her landline from a person claiming to with her bank. Janet said the caller explained there had been suspicious activity on Janet's debit card in Germany. The caller asked if Janet was in Germany and, when told no, offered to help straighten things out.
"I said that香蕉视频直播檚 fine but I香蕉视频直播檓 not going to talk to you; I香蕉视频直播檓 going to confirm this with my bank," answered Janet. "She said OK, that香蕉视频直播檚 the right thing to do香蕉视频直播� she was very calm and she encouraged me to hang up and phone the bank."
Janet hung up and, about two- to three-minutes later, called her bank. She said she was greeted by the bank's usual messaging system and and directory.
"It said 'Press 1' for this and 'Press 2' for that, so I pressed the one to report a stolen card and got somebody who was a different person香蕉视频直播�," said Janet, who was commended for calling the bank directly before proceeding to provide the requested information.
"She had me feeling really good," said Janet. "She got information 香蕉视频直播� 'not in Germany, we need to cancel your debit card we香蕉视频直播檒l take care of that.' Then she said what about your husband, is he in Mexico? No, OK, so there香蕉视频直播檚 fraudulent activity on his card too."
Janet hadn't mentioned she was married.
After the call, Janet went to explain the situation to her husband, telling him "our debit cards have been cancelled, we香蕉视频直播檙e safe, we caught this in time."
About five minutes after hanging up, Janet received another call, this time from a man who said he was with the bank's fraud department.
"Then he pushed it too far香蕉视频直播�," said Janet. "He started telling us there were concerns in my branch that somebody was embezzling and trying to fraudulently transfer money overseas, and they were trying to set up a sting operation with the RCMP and he wanted us to cooperate and give them access to my account so they could catch the culprits red handed. And I said 'OK', and I phoned the police to confirm香蕉视频直播� This time I got through to the real police and they said no, we don香蕉视频直播檛 do that, go to your bank."
Janet came to the realization that somehow after hanging up with the first caller, the connection to her telephone line remained active.
This is possible through what police have referred to as "line-trapping" technology, which enables the caller to stay connected to your phone and intercept outgoing calls.
"These people need an Academy Award for their acting because she was so reassuring and 'yes, you did the right thing and I香蕉视频直播檓 so glad you knew better than to just talk to someone on the phone, I香蕉视频直播檓 glad you knew enough to call the bank,'" said Janet. "She had me feeling really good."
Janet said the scammers got her credit card information, "but they didn香蕉视频直播檛 actually put any charges on it and the bank told us what we needed to do to safeguard everything."
"New phone numbers, new email addresses香蕉视频直播� It香蕉视频直播檚 been a lot of work," said Janet. "It took four days. I had to call up the tax department, everything. It香蕉视频直播檚 amazing.
"We香蕉视频直播檙e safe except that for the rest of my life there香蕉视频直播檚 somebody out there who knows all this identifying stuff about me, who might use it to apply for loans or credit in my name. I registered with the credit bureau but this all depends on, if the scammer goes to a used car lot, is the used car lot going to take the trouble to call the credit bureau? I just have to be monitoring my credit for the rest of my life."
In the future, should she receive another suspicious call requiring a confirmation call, Janet said she will hang up and use her neighbour's telephone.
"That香蕉视频直播檚 my bottom line, you can香蕉视频直播檛 just hang up, you have to use a different phone," said Janet.
