PhoneBusters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Established in January of 1993, PhoneBusters is a national anti-fraud call centre jointly operated by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. PhoneBusters plays a key role in educating the public about specific fraudulent telemarketing pitches. The call centre also plays a vital role in the collection and dissemination of victim evidence, statistics, documentation and tape recordings which are made available to outside law enforcement agencies.
The original mandate of PhoneBusters was to prosecute key individuals in Ontario and Quebec involved in telemarketing fraud under the Criminal Code of Canada. Its mandate now also includes facilitating prosecution by United States agencies through extradition, and by the Competition Bureau under the Competition Act.
PhoneBusters is the central agency in Canada that collects information on telemarketing, advance fee fraud letters (Nigerian letters) and identity theft complaints. The information is disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The data collected at PhoneBusters is a valuable tool in evaluating the effects of various types of fraud on the public. It also helps to prevent future similar crimes from taking place.
