The month of March is known as “Fraud Awareness Month” however it is quite important to note that fraud happens all year round in various forms. With the evolution of technology and the ever- increasing reliance on it, scams have evolved from receiving an email to wire transferring money to a Nigerian Prince who will pay you back 10-fold. By taking a moment to triple check your emails and text messages, it will save you the time and possible financial loss of succumbing to a successful fraudulent attempt.
Types and topics of scams are continuously changing, but here are a few examples of recent fraudulent attempts in Ontario:
1) Service Ontario Licence Plate Refund Text Message - right after the Government of Ontario announced the automatic refund of the cost of license plate stickers, text messages were sent out to thousands of Ontario residents asking to click a link for a refund. The Government of Ontario made it quite clear that the refunds will be automatic and be sent via cheque in late March or April. Do not click on any links on texts received for license plate sticker refunds!
2) Major banks asking you to log into your account - the first clue that these emails are fraudulent is that these emails are typically sent from random alpha numeric email addresses, not from an official person or corporation. These emails ask you to log into your account through their provided link, which is a faulty website, designed to look like your bank browser. The second clue of fraud is to view the http://url address of the site. Again, typically it is not the default login page you are used to and instead is a combination of lengthy alpha numeric details. This scam attempts to steal your login details to your online bank account, watch for the clues!
3) Government, companies or individuals asking for payment in crypto currency - some companies are expanding their forms of payment to crypto currency options, however beware that crypto is not currently regulated in Canada and is a separate payment option from the banks also. Any government agency will not request payment in the form of any crypto currency and triple check the validity of those requesting it.
In summary your bank is not likely to call you outside of banking business hours, but the fraudsters almost always will so you cannot call the bank to check. Be very careful providing any information at all. Don’t call the phone number back they provide. Look up the phone number and call back, even better visit or call your bank directly. Facebook (or Meta now) houses all kinds of your personal information…make sure your computer or bank passwords are not linked to any of your personal information that is readily available to the fraudsters.
According to the Government of Canada’s Anti Fraud Centre, there have been 30,827 reports of fraud related to COVID-19 alone (from March 6th, 2020 to January 31st, 2022) amounting to almost $8 million dollars of losses for Canadians. A little bit of care taken regarding safeguarding your privacy will go along way towards keeping you safe from the fraudsters and not becoming one of their victims. The seniors seem to be most vulnerable and the targets – share this article with the seniors in your life.
If you have been a victim of fraud or would like to report fraudulent behaviour, please see the below links or Contact the Fraud Reporting System (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) or call toll-free at 1-888-495-8501.
https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
John Wooden