Pat Foran recorded his conversation with a scammer. Here's how it went

I recently got a phone call from a scammer and was able to record it to help others recognize how a vishing scam works.

The phone number was not one that I recognized, but I picked up the phone. The caller said he was with Amazon and that fraudulent purchases had been made on my account.

• Watch the phone call in the player above

“There was a purchase of an Apple MacBook Pro and Apple earphones amounting to $3,500,” he said. “I need to run a full security check on your Amazon ID.”

I asked what I should do, and if someone had hacked my account.

“I believe that someone has created a fake Amazon account under your name and accessed your personal information,” he answered.

He said he could stop the transactions, but needed my name, address and bank account details in order to do so.

“So if I give you my banking information you can stop the hackers?” I asked.

“We are the only ones who can help you stop this transaction,” he replied. “Can you help me with your bank that you're banking with? I will connect your call right now to the headquarters of your bank.”

After about 10 minutes on the call, I let him know I wasn't falling for it and that he called a television reporter. He immediately hung up the phone.

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Amazon Canada said scammers who try to impersonate the company put sellers and consumers at risk, adding they “continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance.”

“We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”

Rich Quattrocchi, the vice president of Mutare Software, a company aiming to prevent vishing scams told CTV News Toronto in an interview what to do during a vishing call.

“The procedure is if someone is calling you and you're not expecting this call and they want you to do something right away, hang-up. You can then call the company back using a number that you find yourself,” Quattrocchi said.

So far, Amazon Canada said it has "initiated takedowns of more than 20,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers being used as part of impersonation schemes.”

Some other common phone scams include criminals saying they're with Revenue Canada, your bank or utility company. A scammer may also send you a link to click on, but don't do it as that’s another way they try to steal your information.