Spam robo calls from sources pretending to be government agencies are up in B.C.: new survey
They’ve been calling you for years, claiming you’re in legal trouble with the border services agency or the CRA. Sometimes the threats are jarring, sometimes they’re laughable. Usually you hang up right away, but occasionally it’s funny to listen to the entire recording.
Sometimes the recording is in English, other times it’s in a language you might not understand.
Spam robo calls are an ongoing issue for mobile phone users in B.C. and have increased in frequency over the past two years, according to a survey from Research Co. polling company.
A survey of B.C. residents shows that over the past two months 50 per cent of those with mobile phones have been targeted with calls from people pretending to represent a government agency. That’s an increase of 15 percentage points from when the polling company asked the same question about two years ago, in Sept. 2019.
Men reported receiving the phone calls more (52 per cent) than women, and those in the age range of 35 to 54 were most likely to be targeted (58 per cent.)
And the incidence of receiving a robo call in Cantonese or Mandarin has increased by 20 percentage points since 2019.
”Just over half of mobile phone users in British Columbia say they have received phone calls and/or phone messages where an individual speaks Cantonese or Mandarin in the past two months,” reads a statement from the polling company.
And, those living in Metro Vancouver were also more likely to report receiving a call in Cantonese or Mandarin, with 61 per cent reporting such calls.
The rise in robo calls stands in stark contrast to text messages asking about which political parties a person supports, which decreased by half since 2019.
“Only 18 per cent of mobile phone users in British Columbia received a text message asking if they support a specific party or policy from an individual they do not know in the past two months,” reads the Research Co. statement.
And, across the province, only 28 per cent of mobile phone users say they didn’t receive any of these types of messages in the past two months.
The survey results are based on an online study conducted from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23, 2021, among 800 adults in B.C. The data was statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury cruise line selling world cruise suite for US$1.7 million
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
Why Kim Kardashian is being sued for 'knockoff' furniture
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
Ontario homeowner on the hook for $27,000 when contractor severed power line
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
King Charles will attend Easter Sunday service at Windsor
Buckingham Palace officials say King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend an Easter service at the chapel at Windsor Castle on Sunday.