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With March designated as Fraud Prevention month, police are warning the public of potential scams and fraudsters who have duped victims out of thousands of dollars.
In 2016, the Better Business Bureau estimated Canadians lost more than $90 million to scams. Staff Sgt. Stephanie Burns and Sgt. Jamie Ritchie of the Ottawa police fraud unit offer some tips on what to do for those who cross paths with scammers.
THE CRA SCAM
The scam: A caller supposedly from Canada Revenue Agency says you are late paying your taxes and police officers will be coming to your house to arrest you — at any minute — if you don’t pay immediately. They demand payment in different forms, such as direct bank deposit, prepaid gift cards, iTunes cards and Bitcoin.
What to do: “Hang up and take a sober second thought. You are in the safety of your home, there’ no one knocking at the door … You don’t have to be reactive,” Burns says. “The police just can’t come and knock your door down. We just can’t, but people don’t know that. So, if you get a phone call from the CRA, saying they are going to come and arrest you, you can almost guarantee that that’s fraud. It doesn’t happen.”
THE JOB SCAM
The scam: You reply to an online classified job advertisement and the person “hiring” says they need to send you a cheque in their name to be deposited into your account. Once you deposit the cheque, which is illegal, they ask you to transfer a smaller amount back to them, usually by money or email transfer. This is typically only possible if the bank doesn’t put holds on your cheques. A few days later, the cheque comes back as stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit.
What to do: “We will take the report, but the bank will not reimburse people for those kinds of things because you have essentially breached your contract with the bank,” Burns says. “You are not allowed to deposit cheques from other people through your account like that. That’s money laundering. You can’t do that.”
ONLINE LOANS
The scam: What police call “spammy websites” may tell applicants who can’t get loans from banks that they will be lent $10,000 as long as they first put down security deposits of $1,000, for example, but the loans never happen and the victims never see their money again.
What to do: “Often the money goes out of the country, so there is no way for the police to follow up on it,” Ritchie says. “You call the police, we look at the evidence in every case and evaluate, but 90 per cent of the time we find that this money is going right out of the country.”
IDENTITY THEFT
The scam: An individual’s identity is used to take out some form of credit. The scammer will generally use a person’s name, date of birth, address and Social Insurance Number to open bank accounts, apply for credits cards or order cell phones.
What to do: “It’s really important to contact the credit bureaus to find out what credit has been taken out in your name,” Ritchie says. “And then call each bank, each store, wherever the credit is taken out, and say that this was done fraudulently. The sooner you can call police, the better.”
PHISHING
The scam: The compromised online bank account. This usually starts with fishing email, where it looks like it’s from your bank, saying there has been a problem with your account. You are asked to enter your bank card number and your online pin number. If that happens, the screen typically goes blank, meaning the fraudster has access to your online accounts.
What to do: “Call your bank right away,” Ritchie says. “They will freeze your accounts and usually, in those situations, the bank will reimburse people if they contact fast enough.”
In all cases of suspected fraud, call the Ottawa police fraud section at 613-236-1222 ext. 5433.
查看原文...
In 2016, the Better Business Bureau estimated Canadians lost more than $90 million to scams. Staff Sgt. Stephanie Burns and Sgt. Jamie Ritchie of the Ottawa police fraud unit offer some tips on what to do for those who cross paths with scammers.
THE CRA SCAM
The scam: A caller supposedly from Canada Revenue Agency says you are late paying your taxes and police officers will be coming to your house to arrest you — at any minute — if you don’t pay immediately. They demand payment in different forms, such as direct bank deposit, prepaid gift cards, iTunes cards and Bitcoin.
What to do: “Hang up and take a sober second thought. You are in the safety of your home, there’ no one knocking at the door … You don’t have to be reactive,” Burns says. “The police just can’t come and knock your door down. We just can’t, but people don’t know that. So, if you get a phone call from the CRA, saying they are going to come and arrest you, you can almost guarantee that that’s fraud. It doesn’t happen.”
THE JOB SCAM
The scam: You reply to an online classified job advertisement and the person “hiring” says they need to send you a cheque in their name to be deposited into your account. Once you deposit the cheque, which is illegal, they ask you to transfer a smaller amount back to them, usually by money or email transfer. This is typically only possible if the bank doesn’t put holds on your cheques. A few days later, the cheque comes back as stolen, fraudulent or counterfeit.
What to do: “We will take the report, but the bank will not reimburse people for those kinds of things because you have essentially breached your contract with the bank,” Burns says. “You are not allowed to deposit cheques from other people through your account like that. That’s money laundering. You can’t do that.”
ONLINE LOANS
The scam: What police call “spammy websites” may tell applicants who can’t get loans from banks that they will be lent $10,000 as long as they first put down security deposits of $1,000, for example, but the loans never happen and the victims never see their money again.
What to do: “Often the money goes out of the country, so there is no way for the police to follow up on it,” Ritchie says. “You call the police, we look at the evidence in every case and evaluate, but 90 per cent of the time we find that this money is going right out of the country.”
IDENTITY THEFT
The scam: An individual’s identity is used to take out some form of credit. The scammer will generally use a person’s name, date of birth, address and Social Insurance Number to open bank accounts, apply for credits cards or order cell phones.
What to do: “It’s really important to contact the credit bureaus to find out what credit has been taken out in your name,” Ritchie says. “And then call each bank, each store, wherever the credit is taken out, and say that this was done fraudulently. The sooner you can call police, the better.”
PHISHING
The scam: The compromised online bank account. This usually starts with fishing email, where it looks like it’s from your bank, saying there has been a problem with your account. You are asked to enter your bank card number and your online pin number. If that happens, the screen typically goes blank, meaning the fraudster has access to your online accounts.
What to do: “Call your bank right away,” Ritchie says. “They will freeze your accounts and usually, in those situations, the bank will reimburse people if they contact fast enough.”
In all cases of suspected fraud, call the Ottawa police fraud section at 613-236-1222 ext. 5433.
查看原文...
