A recurring ICBC ticket scam has popped up in Sidney, Campbell River and other parts of the Island, with more than 30 people turning up at Sidney’s Motor Vehicle Branch office in the past few days to deal with non-existent fines, police say.
Sidney/North Saanich RCMP said the scam often comes in the form of texts that give the recipient a short time frame to resolve a fictional unpaid traffic fine.
Campbell River RCMP say multiple people have reported receiving such texts purported to be from ICBC informing them that they have unpaid tickets.
The texts warn that failure to pay could lead to suspension of the recipient’s driver’s licence or discontinuation of service.
The texts are “completely fraudulent” and appear to come from an international number with no connection to ICBC, police said.
“These kinds of scams have become more common and many people end up being duped,” said Const. Maury Tyre.
Tyre said anyone who has doubts about a text or email should not interact with the sender or give any personal information.
“The simplest way to determine if it’s a scam is to contact the company yourself, without using the link the scammer has provided in the email or text.”
Police warned people to be wary of unsolicited calls, texts or emails claiming to be from ICBC, to avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown senders, and to report suspected scams to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 and to local police.
On its website, ICBC notes that it does not contact customers by text message about tickets or fees. “If you receive a text message regarding an outstanding ticket, this is a scam,” it says. “Please do not click on any links within these messages and delete any you receive.”
