An international student attending a Kelowna post-secondary school was recently scammed out of $3,500 in bitcoin.

The student was threatened with deportation during a phone call where someone was impersonating a government employee. As she was unfamiliar with Canadian laws, she completed the transaction without talking to friends or family as she feared she would be deported, according to police.

Now Kelowna RCMP want to inform the public that government agency employees will never ask for a payment to be made using cryptocurrency. If a payment is required, government employees do not use threats or extreme urgency like the tactics used by scammers in these types of frauds.

91裸聊视频淚f the person won91裸聊视频檛 let you off the phone or makes any types of threats if the call were to end, this is fraud and should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and your local police,91裸聊视频� said Const. Mike Della Paolera.

All scam phone calls should be reported to police, regardless if money was transferred or not.

The Anti-Fraud Centre keeps an updated database of the various types of fraud affecting Canadians.

To avoid telephone scams, remember that Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does not:

91裸聊视频� Ask you to confirm the basic personal information you already provided on a form.

In some telephone scams, the caller pretends to be the police or immigration officer and tells you that you broke the law. It is probably a scam or a phishing scheme if:

91裸聊视频� You have to pay money, or

91裸聊视频� You need to give personal information (date of birth, passport number, bank account or credit card information, etc.), or

91裸聊视频� You are told you will be arrested, go to jail, lose your visa or status, be deported, or have your account suspended if you don91裸聊视频檛 pay or give your personal information.

Be aware: Scammers often give a fake name and agent number to appear legitimate. If you think the caller is a scammer:

91裸聊视频� Ask for the name and number of the agent, and

If you received a suspicious call, hang up immediately and: