An London, Ont., man took the law in his own hands after he said he continued calling a number of phone scammers until they asked him to stop.
Kevin Underhill got a call from scammers using phone numbers who were pretending to be an employee of the Canada Revenue Agency on Tuesday morning.
“It was a very bad voicemail.” He said. “It was very automated. It claimed that this was the Canada Revenue calling and there was a need to take action of significant consequence. They began criminal activity.”
Underhill’s instincts told him that this was a scam It didn’t take too long for him to verify his fears.
“I called them back the first opportunity I had’
“I phoned them on the first chance I got,” Underhill said, noting that, unlike the actual Canada Revenue Agency, he did not have to go through several menus on the phone to talk to an actual person.
“It took just two calls before an agent was waiting on the line,” he said. “This was instant.”
Once Underhill realized he was able to make it through with ease He said he called during lunch breaks every day.
“I phoned numerous times to connect the lines” the man said.
How did Underhill did it?
Underhill stated that he had couple of his most memorable pranks that to play on fraudsters.
“When they asked me for my name, I replied “I’ll spell it: YO-U Middle initials: R and last name in a different spelling: A-S C-A-M” and after he typed it on the laptop, I told him to “Read that and return it to me. and make sure that you have it correct.’
“Then Underhill said ‘Wait one second, it’s not your name’, and then he tapped into his phone, and then hang off,” Underhill said. “I phoned them immediately back.”
Underhill claimed to be confused and claimed that was lost and was trying to figure out the cause.
“Stop pranking us!”
“One person was caught by it,” he said. “I provided him with a different name, and he went through the entire process and told me that you had committed tax fraud on income and you’re also guilty of disability fraud and we’re going to start litigation against you for criminal charges.'”
“I’m asking myself, ‘Are they telling me something I’m like ‘Are you kidding me?’ I just came out of jail, I’ve been in prison for 10 years in prison for fraud, and my lawyer assured me that it was going to be over and that I would be free,'” the man said. “They were just rude to me.”
Then, Underhill kept calling, repeatedly until someone finally rang.
“Another person removed the phone from him and told him to stop making calls to us.’ I asked, ‘Who’s this who is this?’ He said , ‘It’s the Manager at the CRA.’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh, why are you all calling?’ He says”‘Leave us completely alone. Stop pranking us!” Underhill said.
“Most people aren’t to the same extent as me’
Most people do not pay attention when they receive a phone call from someone pretending to be an agent of Revenue Canada, Underhill said that he couldn’t stop himself from trying to take the top of those who tried to profit from others.
“Most people aren’t the same distance as I do,” he said. “But I’m also aware that if I call back, and they waste their time, that’s one less person they can contact.”
“Senior citizens That’s where my concern is,”” Underhill said. “Certainly There are grandparents who do not use the Internet and don’t use social media, and don’t know what’s happening.”
Underhill claimed that when he was feeling that scammers had gone overboard that he wanted to call the police and reported their activity.
“She was an extremely nice police officer,” he told. “She advised me to contact the media. She told me to begin by calling CBC.'”
Underhill stated that while the police officer was friendly and gave numerous numbers such as that of RCMP along with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, police claimed that they have nothing they could do to stop fraudsters.
As of 2015 Canadians were reported to have lost $61million to scams. This number that which the Better Business Bureau of Canada believes is only five percent out of $1.2 billion that the BBB believes Canadians actually suffered from scammers in that year.
CBC News calls the scammers
CBC News called the scammers using a number that included the area code 613 given by Underhill to inquire the reason they took the things they did.
“I believe you’re a fool, and I think you’re fooling me,” an unidentified male on the other side of the line told.
In response to a question The man repeated his reply.
“Man I’m offering you an honest answer. You’re either a fool, or I’m fooling you by giving the answer you need to answer your dumb query,” he said, before closing the line.
