WEYBURN - Fraud Prevention Month is a crime prevention initiative aimed at educating and informing consumers and communities on how to recognize, report and stop fraud. This year marks the 19th anniversary of Fraud Prevention Month.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, there was nearly a 40 per cent increase of fraud and cyber-crime reports received in 2023, totalling a staggering $530 million in victim losses. Unfortunately, the increase in financial loss isn’t tied to an increase in reporting, as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that only five to 10 per cent of people report fraud.
Fraud can happen anytime, and it is important that local residents keep alert to attempts from scammers and hackers. That is one of the reasons why the theme for this year’s Fraud Prevention Month is “Tricks of the trade: What’s in a fraudster’s toolbox?” The campaign exposes fraudsters’ tricks, tools and tactics, to help Canadians to protect themselves.
Although fraudsters keep changing tactics and using advancements in technology to steal personal information, there are still common tools and tactics that they are using. The first is spoofing, which is when a fraudster attempts to mislead or convince a victim that they are communicating with people they know, usually a legitimate company or organization. Fraudsters can change the caller-ID that is displayed on phones, or a sender address in an email, to help mimic a legitimate organization.
Most fraudsters will use urgency to pressure or trick a person into sending money, or personal information, or into clicking on malicious links in the email.
The most important way to prevent a spoofing fraud is to listen to your instincts. If you believe it might be a fraudster, hang up the phone or delete the email without responding to it. A legitimate company or agency will have official phone numbers that you can call to verify the call, and many of these agencies do not contact residents using email.
Time is on your side. No legitimate company will be sending the police or law enforcement to your door if a payment is not made. In fact, residents should notify the police if they are being threatened by a fraudster, or being asked for money or personal information. It is important that when it happens, the fraud is reported.
It is also extremely important to never use the same password for multiple online accounts. It is also recommended that passwords are a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, and should not be words found in the dictionary, or the name of a person, character, or organization. Passwords should also be changed every six months, so Fraud Prevention Month is a great time to schedule a password change to keep yourself safe.
Remember fraud can happen anytime and to anyone. It is up to every resident to stay alert, and report incidents of fraud when they occur.
