Robson Valley RCMP have seen a recent spike in a telephone scam in which the caller claims they are a collections agent representing Telus or BC Hydro. The caller then directs the victim to purchase “Vanilla Billpayer” or “Vanilla Pre-paid” credit cards to pay off the debit and call them back with the credit card information.
RCMP recommend that should you receive this call, no matter how legitimate it may seem, to hang-up and not purchase the credit cards. Once the numbers and security codes are provided the card balance is drained and the victim is out of their money.
Best practice is to contact the agency the caller is claiming to represent, by using the actual company phone numbers located on the companies web-site to inquire about your bill balances.
