SaskTel has responded to a recent surge in spam calls, apparaently from Tunisia, that occurred in recent days.
Many SaskTel customers took to social media on Thursday to complain about receiving numerous calls in a short period of time from Tunisia. Some posted photos of their phone records.
In an email, SaskTel says it has taken steps to block the scam calls. They plan to keep these measures in place until the calls from that region subside. They believe this will prevent the vast majority of these particular scam calls from reaching their customers.
SaskTel says these types of scam calls are truly a national issue, impacting people and communications providers all across the country. For this reason, the Crown corporation continues to work with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and others in the industry to implement solutions to combat this problem.
In 2019 they implemented universal call blocking technology on their network to help reduce these types calls. They're also working to implement stir/shaken technology on networks to reduce unwanted calls that spoof legitimate phone numbers.
Scammers will focus efforts in a particular area then shift their focus elsewhere.
SaskTel has the following recommendations:
They understand how frustrating it is to receive scam calls and although it can be satisfying to give these scammers a piece of your mind, SaskTel would encourage our customers to simply ignore the call entirely;
Most cell phone devices have built in features that can help to prevent some types of scam calls, or alternatively there are applications that can be downloaded to help with this;
People can report scam calls to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) on their website (linked below) or by phone at 1-888-495-8501. Additionally, if people think they were the victim of a crime as a result of a scam call, they should contact the RCMP or their local police service;
SaskTel also has more information available on its website to educate customers on what they can do to help reduce the amount of scam calls they receive.
