Scam Artists Calling Your House; Watch out says Provo Resident!

By Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

#TurksandCaicos, April 26, 2023 – At least two customers of CIBC FirstCaribbean were targetted by scammers this past Monday.  A resident of Providenciales informed Magnetic Media of her early morning ordeal, where a call to her home phone – not her cell – but her home phone number by an unknown person informed that there were two suspicious transactions from her account; allegedly siphoning a total of $2,000 from the woman.

To get to the bottom of the issue, the scammer needed personal banking information. The woman did not fall victim to the trap, but she warns, had she been less savvy she easily could have; they were that good!

Exercising, what she attributed to ‘Godly wisdom’, instead of handing over the banking information to the caller, who was claiming to be a CIBC bank representative, red flags went up.

She turned the tables, cornered the caller with a barrage of her own questions and that ended the potential electronic heist.

The bank, CIBC FirstCaribbean has been notified of the incident and confirmed that her funds on account were intact, that the $2000 transactions where someone had stolen her money were a lie.

It is believe the game is to unwittingly make the account holder so anxious that they turn over private information in a desperate attempt to somehow protect what is left and get what was reportedly stolen.

It was then, the woman who shared her situation with our newsroom, also a senior citizen of the Blue Hills community in Providenciales, learned of another client, who on the same day had been lied to and tricked into giving details which could give the con artist access to their money.

Magnetic Media has encouraged the resident to contact the Police Financial Crimes unit to file a report there as well.

However, what this noble citizen desires most from sharing her story is for residents to be aware that there are people going to extreme lengths to rob you out of your cash savings and they are not only using cell phones, but calling on landlines, which can appear more legitimate.