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Recognize FraudMarch is Fraud Prevention Month

In 2019, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) received 46,465 fraud reports from Canadian consumers and businesses. The total reported losses were $96,163,328.00. It is estimated that less than 5% of fraud victims report their occurrences to the CAFC. The following are the top 10 frauds reported to the CAFC in 2019.

Spear Phishing ScamsNumber of Reports: 830 Number of Victims: 445 Dollars Lost: $21,404,827.00Whereas regular phishing campaigns go after large numbers of relatively low-yield targets, spear phishing aims at specific victims using e-mails, that have been specifically crafted for their intended victim. The “from” part of an e-mail is often spoofed to make it look like it is from a known entity or from a domain that looks similar to an entity they would typically conduct business with. The aim of both phishing and spear phishing is to either infect devices with malware or convince victims to hand over information or money.

Protect Yourself: • Use security software on both your computers and electronic devices, ensuring it is up to date.• Think before you click on links. Hover over links to reveal the address/site info. Verify the e-mail

address of sender is correct or contains the domain name of the trusted source. • Be careful about how much personal information you share on social network sites. Fraudsters can use your

information to target you with a scam.• Never provide personal or financial information via e-mail or over the phone when you did not initiate the contact.

Investment Scams/Affinity FraudNumber of Reports: 352 Number of Victims: 288 Dollars Lost: $10,719,376.00Fraudsters go to great lengths to gain a victim’s trust and pressure them into investing in fake investment opportunities or fake companies. The fraudster will promise a guaranteed high rate of return with no risk to the investor. Common types of affinity fraud are Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

Protect Yourself: • Avoid high-return, risk-free investments or “get rich fast” business opportunities. • Be skeptical of unsolicited investment opportunities received over the phone, online

or through acquaintances. • Research the investment opportunity, even if it is being presented by a trustworthy

person. Ask to have the details of the investment provided to you in writing. • Don’t be pressured or rushed into committing to an investment.

Romance ScamsNumber of Reports: 975 Number of Victims: 682 Dollars Lost: $18,327,897.00

Not everyone using online dating sites is looking for love. Fraudsters create fake profiles on dating sites and apps, or contact their targets through popular social media sites. Fraudsters will go to great lengths to gain their victims’ interest and trust, such as showering them with loving words, sharing ‘personal information’ and even sending gifts. Once trust is built, the fraudster makes up a story and ask for money or ask the victim to make purchases for them.

Romance scams are not restricted to the online environment. Some build that trust with their victim by meeting in person and even going to the extent of moving in with their victim.

Protect Yourself:• Do a reverse image search, from any internet search engine, of the person you are communicating

with. If the person’s image appears under several different names or on a stock photo site, this might be an indicator they are a fraudster.

• Be cautious when sharing personal information, pictures or videos with prospective partners. • Never under any circumstance send money for any reason. The fraudster will make it seem like

an emergency, they may even express distress or anger to make you feel guilty but DO NOT send money. End the conversation.

• Do not accept accept money (e-transfer, cheque) or goods (usually electronics) from anyone and then transfer or send elsewhere.

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Extortion - Ransomware, Sextortion, iTunes/Gift Card related ScamsNumber of Reports: 10,278 Number of Victims: 2,101 Dollars Lost: $8,233,115.00

Fraudsters unlawfully demand money, property or services from a person, entity or institution through coercion. The fraudster will come up with many reasons why you urgently need to pay them money.

Service ScamsNumber of Reports: 3,547 Number of Victims: 1,779 Dollars Lost: $4,158,372.00

These scams typically involve individuals that make offers for telecommunications, Internet, finance, medical and energy services. This category of scams may also include offers such as extended warranties, insurance, door-to-door sales, and home maintenance services. Fraudsters can be telemarketers or door-to-doors salespersons.

Protect Yourself:• Representatives of legitimate businesses carry accredited identification. Request to see their

identification. Contact the business to verify the representative.• Don’t be intimidated by high-pressure sales tactics. Do not be afraid to say “NO”• Get everything in writing.• Do not sign a contract to make a purchase on the spot. Take your time and do your research

before making a decision. Consult an expert or talk to a friend. Legitimate businesses will allow you time to make a decision.

• Do not pay up front for a service. Get multiple estimates in writing.

Prize ScamsNumber of Reports: 1,200 Number of Victims: 318 Dollars Lost: $3,386,269

Congratulations! You’ve won a car, valuable jewelry, cash, or some other fabulous prize! Fraudsters contact their victims to notify them that they have won a fabulous prize. Victims are then asked to pay a fee in order to claim the prize, or be asked to provide personal information to prove that they are the correct winner.

Bank Investor ScamsNumber of Reports: 1,083 Number of Victims: 366 Dollars Lost: $3,237,667.00

Fraudsters contact their victims by phone advising that they require their assistance to catch a bank employee that “has been stealing money”. The victim is instructed to go to their bank and make a cash withdrawal, usually in $100 bills, for amounts in the $5,000 dollar range. The person is told not to tell the bank teller what they are doing because the teller may be involved. The victim is instructed to place the cash in an envelope and meet the “Investigator” in a nearby parking lot where the cash is turned over.

Protect Yourself: • Never give cash to someone you do not know or are meeting for the first time. • Financial institutions will never solicit assistance from the public for internal investigation. • Contact police or the financial institution immediately to verify the telephone call you received.

Protect Yourself:• Do not reply to the extortionist’s e-mail. • Do not click on any links or open any attachments sent by the extortionist. • Do not pay in hopes that the extortionist will go away. • Change your passwords for any online accounts immediately.

Protect Yourself:• Do not pay any money to claim prize. Never give out credit card or banking information. • Never wire money or share gift card numbers to claim a prize. • Never cash cheques that are sent by someone unknown to you, and send some of the money back.

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Sale of Merchandise ScamsNumber of Reports: 2,211 Number of Victims: 1,526 Dollars Lost: $2,477,197.00

Fraudsters target individuals or businesses who sell or purchase items online or through classifieds.

For buyers, the fraudster will request payment for the goods in advance or direct the purchaser to a fake payment site to pay for the goods. A fake e-mail receipt will be sent to the buyer but the goods are never received by the buyer and there is no way to contact the seller.

For sellers, you will receive a reply via e-mail or text message from the fraudster looking to purchase the product you are listing for sale. The fraudster will then proceed with transferring fake payment(s) to your account, paying with stolen credit cards or with fraudulently accessed funds. Alternately, the fraudster may send a cheque for more money than the agreed sale price. The fraudster will providet an excuse for the overpayment, such as to cover the fees of an agent or extra shipping costs, or that it was simply human error. The fraudster will then ask you to refund the excess amount – usually through an online banking transfer, pre-loaded money card, or a wire transfer – before you discover that their cheque has bounced.

Protect Yourself:• Be cautious of generic e-mails with poor grammar or spelling mistakes. • Ensure you are purchasing from a legitimate online retailer. Check out who’s behind the website you’re shopping at.

Take a look at the “contact us” page. If there’s no telephone number to call, or if the number doesn’t work when you call, it could be a scam.

• Don’t shop at a website that lacks the SSL padlock. Legitimate online retailers should protect the information you share on the site with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.

• Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases, as you can dispute the charges if you do not get the goods purchased. Avoid any arrangement with a stranger that asks for payment via money order, wire transfer, international funds transfer, pre-loaded card or electronic currency, like Bitcoin. It is often impossible to recover money sent this way.

• Sellers, be cautious of far away buyers who want to purchase products without seeing them. • If a buyer has paid using a cheque, do not send items to the buyer until payment has cleared into your bank account. • Be wary of any transactions that involve an overpayment, and requests to refund the excess money by internet banking

or wire transfers.• For individuals, insist on meeting the seller or buyer at a public meeting place, such as a cafe or bank or police station,

and only during daylight hours, to conduct the sales transaction.

Timeshare ScamsNumber of Reports: 89 Number of Victims: 66 Dollars Lost: $2,477,197.00

Fraudsters lure you in with free stays, gourmet dinners, massages, or theme park passes in exchange for you agreeing to sit through a presentation about vacation properties. These vacation properties are also known as timeshares. If you buy into the timeshare, the scam can include hidden booking or maintenance fees or the company going out of business once the deposit is made. Sometimes, new timeshare units are sold before the property has been built. If the financing for the construction falls through, it might never be built.

Timeshare Resale Scams target owners who are trying to sell their timeshare. Fraudsters call the owner to offer to buy the timeshare that has been advertised for sale online. They promise a quick sale with a high profit margin. However, they ask for various fees up front before the final sale, including maintenance, escrow and taxes.

Protect Yourself: • When purchasing a timeshare, do your research. Talk to other owners. Read the fine print. Understand what you are

purchasing and annual feels attached to the purchase. If purchasing into a new timeshare property, use an escrow service to hold your money until you are confident everything is in order.

• Research the company conducting the timeshare transaction. Use trusted companies or deal directly with the resort company.

• No respectable sales company will use emotional tactics or guilt to get buyers to agree to a purchase or offer. • When reselling, do not pay money up front. Legitimate companies will not ask for monies before the sale goes through.

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Additional tips to protect yourself from frauds and scams

► Create strong passwords for each of your individual online accounts.

► Setup multi-factor authentication to make it more difficult for someone else to access your accounts.

► Limit the amount of personal information you share on your social media accounts. Do not click on apps or promotions within social media platforms – they may look fun, but can put your personal information, computer and friends/followers at risk.

► Ask What happens with my personal information? When providing personal information, what will the organization do with the information and do they require it for the relationship you maintain with them?

► Update the privacy settings attached to your social network accounts.

► Be familiar with a company’s terms of service and how their payment methods work before using them. Look for a fraud protection policy.

► Never, under any circumstances, accept money and send money to a third party. You may, unknowingly, be participating in money laundering which is a criminal offence.

► Avoid reacting automatically. Take five minutes to ask additional questions and listen to your instincts. If something doesn’t seem right, ask someone else about it.

► Remain current on frauds and protect others by sharing what you know. Use the power of social media to stop criminals in their tracks. Tell two others and ask them to do the same. An unbroken chain of 25 people telling two would cover the entire population of Canada.

► Do not trust the information on your call display because it can easily be manipulated.

► Do not provide your personal or financial information on demand.

► Do not open an attachment or click a link in an unsolicited e-mail or text message.

What to Do if You are a Victim of FraudCollect your thoughts and gather all information about the fraud, including:

• documents• receipts• copies of emails and/or text messages

Contact your financial institution(s)• Report the incident to the financial institution that

transferred the money.• Request to have identity theft flags placed on all of

your accounts• Cancel and have all credit and debit cards reissued• Change all of your passwords• Report the fraud to both credit bureaus (Equifax and

TransUnion)

Report the incident:• To your local police and get a file number for future

reference. If you find suspicious activity on your credit report, update your file with the police.

• Contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre toll free at 1-888-495-8501 or through the Fraud Reporting System.

Protect yourself from future fraud• Scammers often target victims of fraud a second

or third time with the promise of recovering money. Always do your due diligence and never send recovery money.

• Share any updates with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, your financial institutions and police.

• Tell family, friends, neighbours and co-workers about your experience. You may prevent someone else from becoming a victim.

Additional Resources• BC Securities Commission InvestRight - a website providing investors with online tools and information to help them make

wise investing decisions and protect themselves against unsuitable or potentially fraudulent investments - www.investright.org• Better Business Bureau BC- provides information about BBB accredited businesses to consumers before they do with

them. Maintains a web page containing an interactive map that shows consumers and businesses scams that are operating in their community. - www.bbb.org/ca/bc - Ph: 604-682-2711

• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre - collects information on fraud and identity theft and provides information on past and current scams affecting Canadians - www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca - toll free: 1-888-495-8501

• Competition Bureau Canada - an independent law enforcement agency, ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace. Provides resources to help Canadians recognize, reject and report fraud - www.competitionbureau.gc.ca - toll free: 1-800-348-5358

• Equifax - one of two credit bureaus for placing fraud alerts to an individual’s credit file. - www.consumer.equifax.ca - toll free: 1-800-465-7166

• TransUnion Fraud Victims Resources - one of two credit buereaus for placing fraud alerts on an individual’s credit file and provides resources for victims of fraud - www.transunion.ca/assistance/fraud-victims-resources - toll free: 1-800-663-9980