A Portage la Prairie resident is warning the public, following a suspicious phone message he recently received. Jess Roulette says he discovered a voice mail from an Ottawa phone number , informing him his "number had come up" for tax fraud but didn't use his name. He says the automated message also informed him he should call back, to address the fraud.

"When I did phone back, a gentleman answered, and said his name was Jonathan David. The first thing he wanted to know was my phone number. I asked him why I would need to give that to them, if they already knew who they were calling. I contacted Phone Busters and informed them of that, and they said they're already looking into it."

He says the caller didn't even know his name, and immediately started asking for more personal information as he stayed on the line. Roulette says the first call he made after hanging up the phone was to the local RCMP, who informed him he should call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's Phone Busters line, which specializes in telephone scams. While the suspicious call has been reported, Roulette says he wants to ensure Portagers aren't falling for the fraud.

"I've heard lots of stories of people losing thousands of dollars and even the person on the other end of the phone becoming threatening. I just want to look out for other people."

He wants Portagers to remain diligent when it comes to suspicious phone calls, adding those who believe they've been contacted by scammers should get the person's name and phone number. He says those at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre indicated they were aware of the scam, and added this time of year is when these types of scams become more frequent.