By Cpl. Grant Simpson

It was another steady week for the Columbia Valley RCMP. We responded to 74 calls for service. A small sample of some of the calls we responded to throughout the week are highlighted below.

Crazed, impaired early morning visitor

On July 16, at 3:43 a.m., Columbia Valley RCMP received a report from a 32-year-old Invermere man that an intoxicated male had been banging on his door trying to get into his house. The complainant added that the Caucasian male was 6’1″, wearing a baseball cap, black hoodie and shorts and that after throwing up on complainant’s truck the male departed east on foot toward the lake. Police responded to the report and conducted extensive patrols throughout the area with negative results. No further reports were received about male.

Homemade Driving Range

On July 16 a 33-year-old local male phoned the RCMP to report that while relaxing at James Chabot beach a golf ball landed next to him seemingly from out of nowhere. The complainant believed it came from the old football field just west of the beach and requested patrols. Cst. Myers made patrols in the area but could not locate any individuals hitting ‘gold’ balls or in possession of golf clubs.

Scam warning

Columbia Valley RCMP is again warning residents of an increasingly aggressive scam, where scammers purport to be with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or Microsoft Corp.

There are several ways people can help protect themselves by using the following practices:

– Do not feel pressure to respond to a request until you have a chance to verify the story.

– Never transfer money, or give out credit card or other financial information, until you can verify the person’s identity and the story, and determine whether it is legitimate.

– The CRA will not ask for payment via prepaid credit cards or wire transfer.

Look up published numbers for the CRA in the phone book and confirm the legitimacy of the caller’s story. Do not call numbers provided to you by the person who called you.

– Don’t believe what you see. Business logos, websites and email addresses can easily be duplicated to look legitimate.

– Watch for poor grammar and spelling.

– Contact the business directly to legitimize the communication before you take any action. Search online to get contact information from an official source.

– Hover your mouse over links to check their true destination. If the URL doesn’t match the link, or seems suspicious, don’t click on it.

– Be wary of unexpected emails that contain links or attachments from unknown senders.

– Update your computer’s anti-virus software.

– Ignore calls for immediate action or messages that create a sense of urgency.

– Beware of Phishing emails posing as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requesting personal information, or links within an email re-directing to a fraudulent website that appears to represent the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA does not email Canadians and request personal information.

Never provide personal information such as SIN, bank account information or credit card numbers.

Let common sense prevail!

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