THE BATTLEFORDS - A rising wave of online scams is hitting the Battlefords, with fake Taylor Swift ticket offers deceiving fans and seniors alike. Scammers are using convincing emails to trick people into handing over personal details and money, says Battlefords Citizens on Patrol.
In a recent Facebook post, Battlefords Citizens on Patrol (COP) Chairman Doug Fehr explained how he nearly fell for a scam email about Swiftie tickets, pointing out several red flags: a suspicious return address, an odd location (“Bay Street Canada”), and an “unsubscribe” link that didn’t work.
“Our main activity is crime prevention through vehicular patrols ... but we’ll gladly bring attention to online scams such as this one received this morning,” Fehr wrote. “If you’re going to give money away, please give it to a registered charity, not a scam artist. Tell your young Swiftie fans, please.”
Fehr, who leads a team of around 30 volunteers, said these scams are more common than most people realize.
“Some of them are quite obvious, but some are fairly well-disguised,” he told the News-Optimist. "...Our mission is crime prevention, crime deterrence within the Battlefords.”
While the Swiftie scam is the latest to grab attention, Fehr’s group has been sounding the alarm on scams targeting vulnerable groups like seniors.
“I see too many people, particularly seniors, getting caught up in these scams,” he said. “It’s just another tool in our crime prevention kit.”
Fehr’s message to residents: Be cautious.
“If it looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t,” he advised. “Treat a lot of things online with a healthy dose of skepticism.”
