A very convincing scam is circulating in British Columbia involving a fake website that's identical to a government one that asks for payment.
Staff at the Ministry of Finance’s Corporate Accounting Services issued an alert about the website, warning people to only ever make payments on www.pay.gov.bc.ca.
"An identical fake website has been created by malicious actors to potentially steal personal and/or credit card information," says a spokesperson. "We have recently become aware of phishing attempts against PayBC users."
People should never share information without verifying the legitimacy of the website.
"Please be vigilant against phishing attempts,” states the ministry. "Do not click on unfamiliar links received via text or email that ask for your personal or credit card information."
The scam first comes in the form of a text message, stating "Your vehicle was detected by our speed monitoring camera exceeding the speed limit."
It continues to say that the driver was travelling "41 km/h in a school zone" and to "please visit" the provided link before a certain date.
Glacier Media has seen the scammers use two different numbers: 263-770-6026 in the Lower Mainland and 263-700-6046 in Kamloops.
After clicking the link, a website is launched with the exact same logo, font, colour scheme and pay system that PayBC uses. The website then asks for private information such as name, birth date and address.
The fake website reads “To settle your infraction without a court date, please visit our online site.”
It claims the total amount due is 20.38$, with the dollar sign inaccurately placed at the end.
Speeding in a school zone has a minimum fine starting at $196 in B.C., not $20.38.
