The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is warning Canadians about a new nation-wide text scam.
The message will appear as an SMS message, or a DM over social media platforms.
The fraudster will send a message claiming to be a family member or loved one saying that their cellphone is broken or has been dropped in water.
They then provide an alternate phone number to contact them at while getting their current phone fixed, and proceed to ask for a favor by requesting funds from the victim to repair the broken phone or to pay a bill.
To protect yourself, the CAFC is recommending to ignore these messages, or contact the family member directly using a phone number you already have.