City says scam texts offering property tax discounts are not from Kamloops mayor

“The resident, very much to their credit, went to their bank and checked some information out and then was directed to City Hall. our staff realized this was not correct and not appropriate.”

Hallinan said city officials do not offer tax discounts, and that even if they wanted to, mayor and council do not have the authority to override property taxation legislation. He also said the city will never contact residents via text message to request personal information or payments.

“This is the first for us. We’ve never heard of this,” Hallinan added. “I was speaking to some other finance professionals across the province and it was a new one for them as well. I think it really goes to show that you always have to be vigilant in terms of text messages that are coming and how organizations communicate with people.”

People who have received similar messages are asked to alert Kamloops RCMP so they can investigate.

“We’re seeing scamming become more and more creative and a little bit more advanced. In this circumstance, they used the image of an individual who is very publicly known in this city. People need to make certain before they do things like this that they check out with the proper sources.”

“Sometimes somethings that sound really too good to be true, probably aren’t true at all.”

by Victor Kaisar

City says scam texts offering property tax discounts are not from Kamloops mayor

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